Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Re-Write)
by CrashCobalt92
Summary: Sequel to the Sorcerer's Stone (Re-Write). Best friends Riley and Tony enter their Second Year at Hogwarts with Harry and the gang, and before the year even begins, strange things are beginning to happen. A small house elf giving strange warnings, a Parselmouth in the castle, and a mysterious diary. What's next? Told from OCs' perspective, but kept in 3rd POV.
1. Breakout

Chapter One: Breakout

"How come I can't drive?" asked Tony.

"'Cause it's my dad's car." replied Ron. "I don't think you should be the one driving anyway, not after what Riley told me before."

"Give me a break, it was one time!"

"I wish I was there to see it." said Fred.

"It would've made a right laugh." agreed George.

"Oh, shut up!"

The four of them sat in a baby blue Ford Anglia that the Weasley siblings' father had enchanted some time ago, and were flying it through the dark, quiet skies over the England country. Tony and Fred were seated in the back, while Ron sat in the passenger's seat, and George took the driver's seat. Tony was dressed in a open green short-sleeved shirt over a silver long-sleeved shirt, a pair of blue baggy jeans and white sneakers. His spiky black hair was hidden underneath a green knitted ski cap, which stopped just above his brown eyes. Ron was wearing a dark brown jacket over a red checkered shirt, and dark pants. His brothers were dressed in matching green and white striped vests over ruddy brown long-sleeved shirts, dark pants, and baggy jackets. All three Weasley siblings had matching fiery red hair, but the twins had brown eyes, while Ron had blue.

After nearly a whole summer of no communication from Harry, the three Weasleys and Tony decided to go pay him a little visit. Tony was dragged along for the ride because he and Riley had gotten a glimpse of what Harry's family was like. A week into summer break, the two had come over to the Dursleys' home to ask if Harry was home, and a man, who they quickly guessed was Harry's uncle Vernon, shouted at them to get off of his property. Tony, unwisely, made matters worse when he started to argue with Vernon, and he and his best friend were chased away from the property by a rake-wielding Vernon.

"Are you sure it's around here?" asked George.

"Trust me, I wouldn't forget this place." replied Tony. "I'm ready for that crazy old man this time though."

He held up a can of spray cheese, much to the surprise of Ron and the Weasley twins.

"Tony, what is that?" asked Fred.

"A can of spray cheese." replied Tony. "It's the only thing I could think of."

"A can of spray cheese." repeated George. "Yes, Harry's uncle will definitely be rueing the day now that he messed with Tony Gabriel."

"Ho ho, very funny. Ha ha, it is to laugh. Shut up and turn here."

George turned the steering wheel, and the car flew towards a neighborhood of similar-looking houses.

"Is this it?" he asked.

Tony poked his head over the seat, and scanned the houses below.

"Yep." he answered, pointing forward. "Go down over there."

The car began to descend towards a row of houses, and what caught the eyes of the four boys seated in the car was a lone house with bars attached to the exterior of one of the windows on the second floor.

"I'm willing to bet that's the one where Harry lives." guessed Fred.

"I'll get in on that." agreed George.

He drove closer towards the house, and saw Harry standing in the window that had bars attached to it. Harry had his glasses on over his green eyes, and was dressed in a pair of white pajamas with thin blue stripes. Ron waited until they were close enough for his older brother to turn the car around, then rolled down the window to talk to Harry.

"Hiya, Harry." he greeted.

"Ron. Fred. George. Tony." Harry breathed, surprised. "What are you all doing here?"

"Rescuing you, of course. Now, come on, get your trunk."

Harry quickly got changed out of his pajamas into a collared red striped shirt, a pair of pants, and his shoes, then proceeded to get all of his school things packed up. As he did so, Fred handed Ron a long rope with a hook attached to one end in order to remove the bars from Harry's window.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." said Tony. "And I love mischief."

"Well, do you have any other ideas for getting him out of there?" asked Fred.

"Why don't you try knocking on the door and asking his aunt and uncle to let Harry ride with us back home in our enchanted flying car?" George joked, grinning back at their friend.

"I'm about take this can here and shove it so far up your-"

"Knock it off, the three of you!" Ron barked, glaring at them. "We've got more important things to worry about! One of you, get out and tie the other end of this rope onto the bumper."

Fred and George glanced at Tony, who looked between them, outraged, then took the other end of the rope, and climbed out of the car. Taking special care not to look down, the Muggleborn Slytherin wizard climbed onto the trunk of the car, and carefully bent over the back of it to secure the rope around the bumper tightly. As he did this, Ron attached the hook to the center of the bars on Harry's window.

"You better stand back." he instructed their friend. "Tony, get in the car."

Tony didn't waste any time and clambered in to the backseat again, just as George turned and drove forward enough for the rope to yank the bars and the window off of the hinges. The four passengers cringed as the bars crashed to the ground with a loud clanging sound.

"That went well." muttered Fred.

The car parked backwards in front of the broken window, so Harry could put his things in the trunk of the car. The Weasleys and Tony distinctly heard Harry's uncle angry yelling, and started to panic.

"Warden's coming!" shouted Tony.

"Turn the car around!" Ron yelled, once Harry had closed the trunk.

"Go, go, go!" urged Fred.

George turned the car around as quick as he could so Ron could open the passenger's door. Harry was now trying to hand him Hedwig's cage, trying to hurry before his uncle could stop him from leaving. The four passengers shouted urgently for Harry to hurry, while Ron grabbed the cage, and handed it to Tony. As the younger Weasley male jumped in the backseat between Fred and Tony, Vernon, a stout, elderly-looking man dressed in a flannel robe, opened the door. Harry quickly dashed for the car as his uncle gave chase.

"Petunia, he's escaping!" the ill-tempered man roared.

Harry jumped into the car's passenger seat, but Vernon grabbed onto the boy's ankle and tried to pull him back through the window. The Weasley brothers and Tony quickly grabbed onto Harry and tried to pull him back, but Vernon wouldn't let go. Tony then remembered his can of cheese spray and picked it up, smiling.

"Let go of me!" shouted Harry.

"Oh, no, boy," growled Vernon. "You and that bloody pigeon aren't going anywhere!"

"Get off!"

Tony rolled down his window and pressed the nozzle down on the can with his index fingertip, causing a thin stream of cheese to quickly cover the older man's face. Vernon howled and growled as he instinctively raised a hand to wipe away the creamy dairy product blinding him.

"Drive!" Ron shouted, looking at the twin behind the wheel.

George slammed his foot down on the pedal, and started to drive off. Vernon, who was still preoccupied with trying to clean his face, and still had a grip on Harry's ankle, felt himself being pulled out of the window.

"No! No! No! No!" he screamed, panicking.

The man tumbled out of the window, his grip finally released from his nephew's leg. Harry climbed into the car and he and the others looked back down to see his uncle had landed onto a bush, then he closed the door once they were a good distance away.

"By the way, Harry, happy birthday." said Ron.

* * *

The sun rose up by the time the five of them had returned to the Weasley's household. It was a tall house with many roofs, chimneys, and windows, some farm animals here and there, and a garage for the car. There were barely any other houses nearby, mostly forest and field. The car started descending towards the ground and landed with a bump, just in front of the pigpen. Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Tony exited the car, and started to head for the house until a screeching from inside the car alerted them to Hedwig, who was practically screaming for them to let her out of the cage.

"I forgot. We don't have the key to let her out." groaned Harry.

"I'll take care of that." said Tony. "Who's got a hairpin?"

Fred handed him one, and he and the others watched as the Slytherin of the group got back into the car, and picked the lock to Hedwig's cage, then within seconds, the snowy owl flew out of the window and out of sight.

"She'll come back here, right?" asked Harry.

"She will." Fred reassured him. "Come on, let's get inside."

The three Weasleys, Harry, and Tony quietly crept towards the house, and snuck inside through the kitchen door, as Fred whispered for the others to be quiet. Harry glanced around the kitchen and saw a pan being scrubbed by an enchanted brush. While the Weasley brothers were helping themselves to some rolls, Tony walked over to Harry, and nudged him.

"Think that's cool?" he whispered. "Have a look at this."

The Slytherin student jerked his head towards the grandfather clock, and led Harry towards it. Instead of numbers on the face, it showed words like "school", "home", "lost", and even "prison", and some of the hands had enchanted pictures of the faces of the Weasley family members on it. The hands with Ron's, Fred's, and George's faces swung from "lost" to "home".

"Cool, huh?" asked Tony.

"Yeah." nodded Harry.

He then walked away towards the living room, and saw a scarf being knitted by a pair of needles, also magically enhanced.

"It's not much," Ron spoke, through a mouthful of bread. "But it's home."

"I think it's brilliant." Harry told him.

Seconds later, the sound of running footsteps alerted the boys to another presence. A woman with long orange-red hair, dressed in a colorful dress stood at the bottom of the stairs, glaring at them.

"Where have you been?!" she demanded.

Ron, Fred, and George looked at her, fearfully, for a moment, then glanced down at the biscuits in their hands, and hid them behind their backs.

"Harry, this is Mrs. Weasley." Tony said, gesturing from Harry to the woman. "Mrs. Weasley, Harry." he added, gesturing from the woman back to Harry.

Upon seeing that Harry was in the room, Mrs. Weasley's expression quickly transformed into one of a motherly smile.

"Harry, how wonderful to see you, dear." she greeted, rushing towards the boys.

Instantly, upon glancing at her three sons, her angry scowl returned.

"Beds empty! No note! Car gone!" she shouted, glaring at her sons. "You could have died! You could have been seen!"

Mrs. Weasley looked back at Harry and Tony, who trusted himself not to say anything else, and her calm expression returned for a brief moment.

"Of course, I don't blame you, Harry, dear." she told Harry.

Ron and the twins looked guiltily at the floor for a moment, then the former dared himself to speak.

"They were starving him, mum." he defended himself and his brothers. "There were bars on his windows."

Fred, George, Harry, and Tony nodded quickly in confirmation, but that didn't make the female Weasley anymore calm.

"Well you best hope I don't put bars on your window, Ronald Weasley." the Weasley matriarch declared, pointing a finger at her youngest son. "And Anthony, I will be discussing this with your father. He said 'no mischief'. I know you left a note explaining where you all went and what you were doing, but he was clear in his instructions." she added, glancing at Tony.

Tony cringed, and looked at the ground, groaning softly. Mrs. Weasley calmed down once again, and looked at Harry, smiling.

"Come on, Harry, time for a spot of breakfast." she told him.

Harry nodded, and watched as she marched into the kitchen, then looked at Tony.

"Your dad's here?" he asked.

"Not right now, he isn't." answered Tony. "Dad and Tim are doing paperwork, and Riley couldn't come over 'cause he was watching Evan last night."

As the boys sat down for breakfast, Mrs. Weasley started putting food on each of the plates set out for them. She called down Percy and Ginny, the last of the children in the home, for breakfast, and started serving out the food onto the plates. Percy had arrived first, his red hair tousled from sleep, and dressed in a pair of striped pajamas similar to Harry's. Just as Mrs. Weasley was starting to put some food onto Harry's plate, Ginny, a girl with long fiery-red hair and blue eyes, rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen in her blue robe.

"Mummy, have you seen my jumper?" she asked.

"Yes, dear, it was on the cat." replied Mrs. Weasley.

Tony looked up at the girl and waved.

"Morning, Ginny." he greeted.

"Good morning, Tony." replied Ginny.

Her eyes then fell on Harry, who was seated beside Ron, and they widened in surprise. Harry noticed her staring, and looked up at her with a smile.

"Hello." he greeted, politely.

Instead of a similar response that she had given Tony a moment ago, the young female Weasley turned and bolted back up the stairs, leaving a confused Harry sitting at the kitchen table. Fred and George looked at one another and chuckled quietly, while Tony tried to hide his grin.

"What did I do?" Harry asked, turning to look at Ron.

"Ginny. She's been talking about you all summer." explained Ron. "A bit annoying, really."

"Looks like you've yet another fan, Harry." joked Tony.

As he said this, Prof. Gabriel entered the house through the kitchen doors. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans with dark brown work boots, and he had his sandy brown jacket slung over his right shoulder. He had brown eyes just like his son, but his hair was black, and his skin was paler than Tony's.

"Teasing our friends so early in the morning?" the man asked.

"Hey, dad." greeted Tony.

A moment after Prof. Gabriel had walked into the kitchen, another man dressed differently than him waved at the people inside.

"Morning, Weasleys!" he called.

The Weasley children and Mrs. Weasley greeted him, as the man followed the Muggle archaeologist into the kitchen. He was dressed in a green coat over a brown vest and white collared shirt with a brown tie. On his head was a pointed brown cap, almost like the school hats the Hogwarts students wore.

"What a night." Mr. Weasley groaned, tiredly. "Nine raids. Nine!"

"'Raids'?" repeated Harry.

"Dad works in the Ministry of Magic, in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." Ron explained, looking up at his father, who was walking over to give his wife a kiss on the cheek. "Dad loves Muggles, thinks they're fascinating. Ask Tony and his dad."

Harry looked past Ron to see Tony forcing himself to look back down at the plate. He figured that the Slytherin student did not want to talk about it right now. He would soon find out why in a moment.

"Well, now." Mr. Weasley said, sitting down in a chair at one end of the table. "Joesph, you'll have to tell me more about how those music players work later."

Prof. Gabriel nodded back at him, as he took a seat at the other end of the table. It was then that Mr. Weasley noticed that Harry was sitting in the kitchen.

"And who are you?" he asked.

"Oh. Sorry, sir." Harry spoke, looking at the elder Weasley. "I'm Harry, sir. Harry Potter."

Instantly, Mr. Weasley's tired demeanor brightened.

"Good Lord. Are you really?" he asked, excitedly. "Well, Ron has told us all about you, of course. When did he get here?" the man added, looking around at his sons.

"This morning." Mrs. Weasley replied, her tone changing to one of anger.

She turned back to look at her husband, her hands on her hips.

"Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey and back last night. With Anthony showing them the way." she told the two fathers.

Tony felt his father's gaze upon him, and didn't dare to meet it.

"I am so dead." he muttered.

To everyone's surprise though, Mr. Weasley was not initially angry. In fact, he looked surprised.

"Did you really?" he asked, curiously. "How did it go?"

This was not the reaction that Mrs. Weasley had in mind, as she quickly turned back around to smack him on the arm, earning a few smirks and chuckles.

"I mean, that was very wrong indeed, boys." Mr. Weasley scolded, half-heartedly. "Very wrong of you."

"Anthony Joseph, I thought we talked about this." Prof. Gabriel started, looking at his son. "You were to behave yourself while I was gone."

"Oh, don't be too hard on him." George joked, grinning at his twin. "His cheese in a can saved the day after all."

Across from him, Tony rest his cheek on one hand, while drumming on the table top with his free hand's fingers.

"I can't tell if you're joking or if you're being serious." he said, looking up at the twin.

"Welcome to my life." muttered Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, God, what did he do with it?" asked Prof. Gabriel.

"Sprayed it in Harry's uncle's face when he tried to pull Harry out of the car." replied Fred.

"Tony, isn't he the old man who screamed at you and Riley when you two asked if Harry could come by for the week?"

"Yep." replied Tony.

Prof. Gabriel nodded, and looked down at his plate. As he started shoveling food into his mouth, a smile had formed on his face, well hidden from his son's view.

"Now, Harry, you must know all about Muggles, I've been saving some questions for you," Mr. Weasley said, turning to Harry. "Tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?"

Harry now could see why Tony suddenly went quiet when Ron brought up him and the Weasley patriarch. Just as Harry was starting to try and answer the man's question, he was interrupted by the screeching of an owl.

"Well, that'll be Errol with the post." said Mrs. Weasley.

"Should we get a cushion?" asked Tony.

"I don't think you'll be able to get it in time." replied Percy.

Sure enough, a barn owl flew towards the kitchen, and ended up slamming into the window, earning a few cringes from the residents inside.

"Fetch it, will you, Percy?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking at the oldest Weasley boy.

Percy rose to his feet, and walked towards window to retrieve the mail from the beak of the family owl, who hopped back onto the window ledge.

"Errol?" asked Harry.

"He's always doing that." Ron told him.

As they talked, Percy examined the envelope, and looked at the contents.

"Oh, look, it's our Hogwarts letters." he announced, looking at his mother. "They've sent us Harry's and Tony's as well."

"Dumbledore must know you're here, boys." Mr. Weasley observed, while Percy started handing out the letters. "Doesn't miss a trick that man."

"Oh, no." agreed Mrs. Weasley.

Tony observed his letter, and raised an eyebrow at the list of schoolbooks that would be required.

"'Break with a Banshee' by Gilderoy Lockhart, 'Gadding with Ghouls' by Gilderoy Lockhart, 'Holidays with Hags' by Gilderoy Lockhart," he listed, his tone slowly changing into one of annoyance. "Okay, clue me in. Who's this Gilderoy Lockhart, and do we need so many of his books?"

"Do you want the short version or the long version?" asked Fred.

"Short."

"I'll fill you in later."

"What kind of short version is that?!"

"This lot won't come cheap though." George observed, looking at his letter. "The spell books alone are expensive."

"We'll manage." Mrs. Weasley assured him, as she took Harry's letter. "There's only one place we're going to get all of this. Diagon Alley."

* * *

First chapter of the Chamber of Secrets rewrite has begun. I'll try to update sooner than my last HP fanfic.

Let's go over this disclaimer stuff, shall we?

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	2. New Friends, New Enemies

Chapter Two: New Friends, New Enemies

Once everyone had finished breakfast and gotten dressed, they all were instructed to gather around the fireplace. Harry, Tony, and the male Weasley children all wore their Hogwarts robes, with normal clothing beneath them, while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny wore different colored robes. Each of them all wore a sweater, but each a different color, and had their first name's initial on the front in gold-colored thread. Prof. Gabriel was the only one in the group who had not worn any robes, but wore a silver sweater like his son's.

Mrs. Weasley stepped forward and picked up a pot full of charcoal-colored powder, and stood back.

"Right. Here we are, Harry." she said, "You go first, dear."

"But Harry's never traveled by Floo powder before, mum." Ron reminded her. "And neither has Tony and his dad."

Harry, Tony, and Prof. Gabriel stared at Ron, confused.

"'Floo powder'?" repeated Harry.

"Oh, well, you go first, Ron, so that Harry can see how it's done." Mrs. Weasley instructed her son. "Yes. In you go."

Ron stepped forward and grabbed some of the powder from the pot, then walked into the fireplace. He held up the hand holding the powder, and spoke in a loud, clear voice, while everyone else stepped back.

"Diagon Alley!" he shouted.

Upon thrusting the powder to the ground of the fireplace, a burst of green flames shot up, enveloping the place where Ron was standing. When Harry, the Gabriels, and the Weasleys looked back into the fireplace, the fire had settled down, and Ron had vanished.

"You see?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "It's quite easy, dears."

She stepped forward towards the fireplace again, holding out the pot of Floo powder.

"Don't be afraid, come on." Mrs. Weasley encouraged the others.

Harry and Tony looked at one another, and Tony started to walk forward, but felt his father pulling him back.

"Now, son, how about we wait until someone else goes next?" asked Prof. Gabriel.

"Aw, no fair." groaned Tony.

"I'll go next." offered Harry.

He walked forward, nervously, and headed towards the fireplace.

"Come on, in you go." Mrs. Weasley told the boy. "That's it. Mind your head. That's right. Now take your Floo powder."

Harry took a handful of Floo powder from the pot after entering the fireplace, and gripped it tightly.

"That's it, very good." said Mrs. Weasley.

As she stepped back a little, she paused to remind Harry to speak very clearly. Why she did that, you'll find out soon. Harry held up the fist holding the Floo powder, and spoke his destination.

"Diagonally." he called.

Upon throwing down the Floo powder, he was thrusted upwards into the fireplace, and sent to his destination, leaving the remaining Weasleys and Gabriels behind.

"What did he say, dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"'Diagonally'." replied Mr. Weasley.

"I thought he did."

It was then that Tony raised his hand eagerly.

"Now can I go next?" he asked.

Mrs. Weasley looked at Prof. Gabriel for confirmation, and received a nod in return, then motioned for Tony to get his Floo powder. Tony did so, and quietly chanted his destination under his breath. The Slytherin boy stepped into the fireplace, and looked at the others, as he held up his Floo powder.

"Diagon Alley'!" said Tony.

He threw down his Floo powder, and felt himself shooting up into the fireplace. After a long moment of flying, he felt himself sliding out onto the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.

"Well,...that was fun." Tony coughed, as he sat up.

"Welcome to the party." joked Ron.

He helped his friend up and saw Tony looking around.

"Where are we?" the latter asked.

"The Leaky Cauldron." replied Ron.

"Has Harry shown up yet?"

"No."

"...Oh, no..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Riley Cross and Hermione Granger, two fellow Gryffindors who were attending Hogwarts, were already shopping in Diagon Alley for their school supplies. Riley wore his blue shirt with a red and yellow Superman logo on the front, a pair of dark blue jeans, and his work boots. Hermione wore a blue long-sleeved shirt, a brown pair of capris, and black boots. Her long bushy brown hair was down as usual, but with a small braid tied in the back. Both of them had worn their Hogwarts robes over their clothing as well, at Hermione's insistence. Hermione's parents and Riley's mother, Dr. Cross, were walking along behind their kids, as they marched down the road. Dr. Cross was wearing a red turtleneck sweater under an open emerald green jacket black pants, and white tennis shoes with white socks.

"Hey, Hermione, I'm gonna go and see if Tony's made it to the Quality Quidditch Supplies yet." said Riley.

"Meet me at Flourish and Blotts when you're done." Hermione told him.

"Got it, buddy."

Hermione took off towards the book shop, with her parents following her, while Riley and his mother headed for the Quidditch shop.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" asked Dr. Cross. "From what your friends say, the position you're wanting to play seems dangerous."

"If I could survive an encounter with a troll, a three-headed puppy, and a parasite, mom, I can survive this." Riley reassured her. "I mean, I spent the whole summer getting over my fear of heights. I can do this."

"Must be those comic books grandpa keeps sending you."

Riley started to walk into the shop, then stopped when he saw Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway. The two glared at each other for a moment, while an older man stood behind Draco. The man was almost twice Draco's height, and had long hair the same color as his own, with the same piercing gaze. In the man's hand was a cane with a silver ornament on it that resembled a snake's head, and both of them were dressed in dark clothing, but Draco was the only one of the two wearing Hogwarts robes. He shoved past Riley, exiting the shop, with the man following after him, glaring at the Crosses. Dr. Cross returned the glare for a moment, then looked at her son.

"Who were they?" she asked, concerned.

"The kid was my classmate, Draco Malfoy." explained Riley. "I should've known that guy was his dad. I thought he looked familiar." he added, shaking his head.

Dr. Cross knew what he was referring to. Her husband told her that a man, matching the one she had seen moments ago, was glaring at their family and friends rather rudely, and it all began to add up with Riley's assumption that this man was his classmate's father. Pushing the thoughts aside, the two entered the shop and Riley walked over to the counter.

"Excuse me, sir?" he asked, looking at the shopkeeper. "I'd like to buy a Nimbus 2001, please? My friend recommended I get one."

"Sorry, kid." the shopkeeper replied. "We're sold out. Someone came in and bought up the last seven we had."

Dr. Cross watched as her son groaned softly in frustration. Stepping forward towards the counter, she looked up at the man behind it.

"Might I get a recommendation on a broom almost as good as that one?" she asked. "My son is trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts this year."

The shop keeper tapped his chin in thought, then made a gesture that told the parent and child to wait. He went to the back of the room for a minute, then came back out with a broom in his hands. He set it onto the counter for Riley and his mother to see.

"This is the Silver Arrow," the shop keeper explained, gesturing at the broom. "An old model, but very fast. You can't find brooms like these anymore. It's a little faster than the Nimbus 2000, and the handling's good, too."

"How much?" asked Dr. Cross.

"Well, I'd say about...four hundred Galleons."

Dr. Cross paid up the amount in four hundred little gold coins, and Riley was handed his new broomstick, then the two picked out the rest of the equipment, and had them paid for and wrapped up. As the two started to leave, Tony and Ron, both still a little covered in soot, charged into the shop, appearing out of breath.

"Hey, there you are!" exclaimed Riley. "Look, I got my Quidditch gear!"

"There's no time for your silly gear, Ry!" Tony told him. "We've gotta find Harry!"

"We lost him when he tried to travel by Floo powder." explained Ron.

"How do you lose a twelve year old boy?" asked Dr. Cross.

Tony opened his mouth, and closed it again upon seeing the woman's stern glare. Riley and Ron assumed that he was about to say something most likely of the smart aleck variety.

"Look, kids, split up and try to find him." Dr. Cross announced, taking the supplies and broom from her son. "Riley, I'll take this all to the Leaky Cauldron in our room, and I'll meet up you boys in a few minutes."

Riley nodded and followed his friends out of the shop to search for the missing boy. Riley ducked into one shop labeled "Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment", while Ron went back to Flourish and Blotts, and Tony headed to the Apothecary to see if Harry was still shopping for his things. Riley hurried into the shop and ran into a girl who was on her way out of the store.

"Sorry, I was looking for me friend." said Riley.

He looked up and felt his breath hitch in his chest. In front of him was a girl with long blond hair and gray eyes. She wore a purple plaid jacket over a blue long-sleeved shirt, a black skirt with colorful stars and circles on it over a pair of blue pants, and black boots. The two locked eyes for a moment, then Riley broke out of his trance, feeling embarrassed.

"I-I'm sorry about that. I'm not normally that weird, or that creepy," he apologized again, blushing. "Er, I-I, uh,-I'm usually not this inarticulate, I mean, I talk to girls often. I have friends that are girls, and my mom is a girl, and...I am seriously losing my mind right now."

"Hmm, you must be affected by Wrackspurts," the girl mused, looking at him up and down. "Don't worry, think positive thoughts, and they'll go away."

Riley nodded and focused on his comic books and the thought of returning to Hogwarts with his friends, and took a deep breath.

"Okay, I think they're gone." he announced, looking back at the girl. "Thanks."

"Oh, it was no trouble." the girl responded, smiling. "My name is Luna Lovegood. What's yours?"

"Riley. Riley Cross."

Luna shook Riley's hand, and earning a sheepish smile from the Gryffindor student.

"It's very nice to meet you, Riley Cross." she said, letting his hand go. "Do you attend Hogwarts?"

"I'm in my second year." replied Riley. "Gryffindor."

"Interesting. It's very nice to know one of my future schoolmates is very kind. You see, I'm starting this year, but I'm hoping to go into Ravenclaw, like my mum and dad."

"Cool. Most of my pals are in Gryffindor, but my best friend, Tony, is a Slytherin. But don't worry, he's friendly. Doesn't share in the same beliefs that most of the other kids in his house do."

"I can't wait to meet them then. Your friends, I mean. I should get going, daddy's waiting for me at Ollivander's. See you on the train, Riley."

Riley nodded, and watched as his new friend left. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit numb. Then a hand grabbed him on the shoulder, surprising him. He whirled around to see Hermione standing there, looking at him.

"You okay there, Romeo?" she asked.

Riley felt his face heat up, and shook his head wildly.

"What are you talking about?!" he demanded, quietly. "Hermione, I'm twelve!"

"And in love." Hermione pointed out.

"Stop it. You're worse than Tony."

The moment Riley said that, he regretted it. Especially when a grin started to form on the female Gryffindor's face.

"Don't you smile-Don't you smile at me, Hermione." Riley started, pointing a finger at her. "Don't you smile right now, or I'm going to-"

Hermione couldn't help it. She started to laugh out loud, as her friend started to get more and more flustered. In the end, Riley gave up, and started heading out the door.

"Women! I can't figure them out!" he grumbled, annoyed.

Just then, something caught Riley's eye. Walking down the road were Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant gamekeeper at Hogwarts, and Harry Potter, the tween hero of the wizard world, including Hogwarts. Like Ron and Tony, Harry was also covered in soot, indicating that he had indeed also used the Floo powder to travel.

"Hermione, I found him!" announced Riley. "Well, technically, Hagrid found him."

Hermione heard his shout, and followed him out into the street towards their friends.

"Harry!" she greeted, happily. "Hagrid!"

"Well, hello, Hermione, Riley." Hagrid responded, smiling.

Riley waved at him in greeting, smiling back at him, while Hermione started talking to Harry.

"Oh, it's so good to see you." she said.

"It's great to see you, too." agreed Harry. "And you, too, Riley." he added, looking at Riley.

"Have I got a surprise for you when we get on the train today." Riley promised him, grinning. "I'm hoping Tony hasn't told you guys yet."

"He hasn't said much yet. Just that you were babysitting your brother the other night."

Hermione stared hard at Harry's face, noticing one of the lenses in his glasses were broken.

"What did you do to your glasses?" she asked.

"Must've been from when he crashed at the wrong place." guessed Riley.

The female brainiac of the group whipped out her wand, swish-and-flicked it at the glasses on her friend's face.

" _Oculus Reparo_." she spoke, pointing the wand at Harry's face.

Harry watched in amazement as the cracks in the left lens of his glasses slowly faded away. He took off his glasses to examine them, while his friends smiled at him.

"I definitely need to remember that one." he said, putting his glasses back on.

"You'll be alright now then, Harry?" asked Hagrid. "Right. I'll leave you to it then."

The three kids said goodbye to him, and headed their separate ways. Hermione led the two boys to Flourish and Blotts, where she explained the Weasleys were waiting. On the way there, they saw Tony and Dr. Cross standing in the middle of the road, talking to each other.

"Who's Tony talking to?" asked Harry.

"That's Dr. Cross, Riley's mom." replied Hermione. "She's a veterinarian, and his grandpa Neil's daughter. Tony's dad is here, too."

Dr. Cross and Tony looked towards the trio, and hurried over to them.

"I take it this is Harry?" asked Dr. Cross. "Hello, sweetheart, my name is Sally Cross. I'm Riley's mother. It's good to see you're safe and sound."

"Thank you, Dr. Cross, er, Sally." replied Harry.

"C'mon, we better go tell Mrs. Weasley we found ya, she's on the verge of having a panic attack." said Tony.

He led his friends into the book store, which was nearly crowded with people, mostly women. Dr. Cross lingered for a moment, while the four tweens moved ahead into the shop, and looked around at the people.

"What's with the crowd?" she wondered aloud.

Tony and Riley looked to the side and saw posters of a man with wavy blond hair appearing heroic were placed here and there, with the words "Gilderoy Lockhart" on top, and "Magical Me" on the bottom of them.

"Oy vey." muttered Tony.

"Tony, why do I get the feeling this is going to be embarrassing?" asked Riley.

The two boys made it over to the their friends and families. Hermione and her parents stood in front of Mr. Weasley and Prof. Gabriel, all nearby Harry, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Ginny, and the older Weasley siblings were more closer to the back.

"...Thank goodness," Mrs. Weasley was saying, as she tried to clean the soot off of Harry. "We'd hoped you'd only gone one grate too far."

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart." a man's voice announced at the front of the room.

Harry, Tony, and Riley exchanged mystified glances as most of the crowd burst into applause. A man in lavender and silver robes with a matching suit, resembling the man from the posters around the shop.

"Mum fancies him." Ron told them.

As his mother shot him a look, a reporter pushed his way through the crowd, a camera in his hands.

"Make way there, please." he called, shoving his way through. "Let me by, madam. Thank you. Excuse me, kids. This is for the Daily Prophet."

Riley grunted in pain as he felt the reporter treading on his foot, and lightly grabbed Harry's shoulder for support. The reporter held up his camera, and snapped a photo of the smiling celebrity. As Lockhart turned to the side to pose again for the camera, he spotted Harry's face in the crowd.

"Oh, no." muttered Riley.

"Emergency evacuation." agreed Tony.

Before any of the boys could move, the reporter suddenly reached back and grabbed Harry by the arm, pulling him towards Lockhart. Lockhart pulled him over to his side, aiming to have a picture taken with him.

"Nice big smile, Harry." he said, grinning at the camera once again. "Together, you and I rate the front page."

The reporter snapped another picture, then paused so the celebrity could speak. Harry, on the other hand, looked completely stunned.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is." Lockhart announced, looking at the crowd. "When young Harry stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography, 'Magical Me',..."

He paused to let the crowd applaud, much to the disgust and annoyance of the Weasley males, Riley, Tony, Prof. Gabriel, and Dr. Cross, before continuing.

"...which, incidentally, is currently celebrating it's 27th week atop the Daily Prophet bestseller list," Lockhart continued, smiling at Harry. "He had no idea that he would, in fact, be leaving..."

The man turned to look at the man in blue wizard robes, who was standing nearby him. The man turned back against the bookshelves, and picked up a stack of books.

"With my entire collected works." the celebrity author announced, while the assistant handed the stack of books to him, and the books were passed to Harry's arms. "Free of charge."

The crowd burst into cheers again, as the reporter took another picture, and Lockhart promptly pushed Harry away. Harry passed the books onto Mrs. Weasley, who wanted to get them signed, and walked with his friends towards the exit.

"Did you see that?" asked Tony. "Dude used Harry as a publicity boost."

"You don't know that." Hermione defended, rounding on him.

"Give it up, Tony." said Ron. "Hermione's gone fangirl on us."

Hermione shot him a glare, as her friends, minus Ginny, laughed quietly to themselves. They managed to catch up to Percy, Fred, and George, when they were met by an unpleasant surprise.

"I'll bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" Draco's voice barked from the side.

Harry, Hermione, Riley, Tony, and the Weasley siblings turned to look at their nemesis, as he marched down the staircase at the side towards them.

"Famous Harry Potter, can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page." sneered Draco.

Tony opened his mouth to speak, but saw Ginny step forward, looking angry.

"Leave him alone." she spoke, bravely.

Draco merely laughed at her.

"Oh, look, Potter." he snickered, grinning at Harry. "You've got yourself a girlfriend."

"I don't know about the girlfriend part, but at least he has a life." cracked Tony.

Draco glared at him, aiming to retort to his wisecrack, when he felt something touching his shoulder. He looked at the object and saw that it was the silver snake head ornament of his father's cane.

"Now, now, Draco, play nicely." Mr. Malfoy scolded his son.

He pushed Draco to the side, and looked over at Harry, smiling.

"Mr. Potter. Lucius Malfoy." the man greeted, his smile fading. "We meet at last."

Harry saw that he was offering a handshake, and took it, only to be pulled towards him.

"Forgive me." Mr. Malfoy said, using the tip of his cane to push back Harry's bengs.

He gazed down at the lightning bolt-shaped scar on the boy's forehead, the same scar that was given to him when he was a baby by Voldemort, the infamous Dark Wizard who was behind the murders of many wizards and witches in the past, including Harry's parents.

"Your scar is legend." whispered Mr. Malfoy. "As, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you."

"Voldemort killed my parents." Harry declared, before stepping back towards his friends. "He was nothing more than a murderer."

Mr. Malfoy nodded, amused.

"You must be very brave to mention his name, or very foolish." he said.

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Hermione told him.

Mr. Malfoy then rounded on her, and took a step towards her.

"And you must be...Ms. Granger." he guessed, looking at his son for confirmation. "Yes, Draco has told me all about you, and your parents."

The man and the group of children looked at Hermione's parents, who were conversing with Mr. Weasley, before returning to their conversation.

"Muggles, aren't they?" asked Mr. Malfoy. "Much like these two boys. Yes, I remember them from the platform during break last year." he added, looking at Riley and Tony. "Muggleborn wizards from overseas, and one of them in Slytherin. Tony Gabriel, was it?"

Tony nodded, his gaze steely. Riley pocketed his hands, forcing himself to stay calm, as Mr. Malfoy's gaze fell on him.

"So that makes you Riley Cross, the boy with the unhealthy addiction to superhero comic books." he said, eyeing the symbol on the boy's shirt. "For the life of me, I cannot seem to understand how a man flying around in blue and red underwear and a cape can be so popular. Then again, I could never understand the minds of Muggles."

Riley felt his nails digging into his palms, unable to remember when his hands had clenched into fists, but he did not care. Tony felt his teeth clench together, and felt a surge of anger coursing through his body. Hermione and Harry forced themselves to remain calm, and not give into their anger. That'd be just what the elder Malfoy would want. Mr. Malfoy then looked at the Weasley siblings.

"Let me see, red hair, vacant expressions,..." he listed, looking at each of the Weasleys' features.

The older Malfoy reached out and plucked out the book from Ginny's cauldron to examine it.

"...tatty, second-hand books," he observed, before returning his gaze to the group of redheads. "You must be the Weasleys."

"If you're looking for an easy medal, you'll have to do better than that." Tony quipped, looking at him. "Last I checked, they don't give awards for pointing out the obvious."

The Malfoys shot him a glare, just as Mr. Weasley, Dr. Cross, and Prof. Gabriel arrived to intervene.

"Children, it's mad in here." Mr. Weasley told the group of kids. "Let's go outside."

"Well, well, well," said Mr. Malfoy. "Weasley Senior, and two of his new little playmates."

Mr. Weasley glared back at him.

"Lucius." he acknowledged the older Malfoy.

"Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur, all those extra raids?" Mr. Malfoy asked, sneering. "I do hope they're paying you overtime, but judging by the state of this, I'd say not."

He paused to observe Ginny's book that he had taken, before looking back up at Mr. Weasley.

"What's the use in being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" asked Mr. Malfoy.

"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy." Mr. Weasley retorted, coolly.

"Clearly."

Mr. Malfoy looked between Dr. Cross and Prof. Gabriel, and the Grangers, shaking his head. He whispered something to himself, before replacing Ginny's book back into her cauldron.

"And I thought your family could sink no lower." Mr. Malfoy spat, looking back at Mr. Weasley.

Mr. Weasley glared at him for a moment, then turned to smile at his family before turning back to glare at his enemy.

"I'll see you at work." said Mr. Malfoy.

With that, he left, but Draco lingered behind to glare at his classmates.

"See you at school." he declared.

Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys, Crosses, and Gabriels watched as the Malfoys left, glaring at them as they departed.

* * *

Well, that was interesting, wasn't it? Yes, I'm having both Tony and Riley tryout for their Houses' Quidditch teams this year. I'm just figuring out how to bash Lockhart in the Quibbler for the next chapter since Luna will be making more appearances. If you guys have any ideas how, please, feel free to share.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	3. Never a Dull Moment

Chapter Three: Never a Dull Moment

"Riley, Tony, are you two ready yet?" Prof. Cross called up from downstairs.

"We'll be right down, dad!" Riley called back.

He and Tony were still finishing packing up their belongings, trying to make their Quidditch gear fit in with their school supplies. Luckily for them, the school supplies didn't take up that much room, and their new broomsticks fit in just fine. The two finished packing up their things, then started to drag their trunks down the stairs to put into the Gabriel family's minivan. Riley's cat and owl, Bubba and Shadow, and Tony's owl, Giles, were already waiting in the backseat, and Riley and Tony each took a seat in the center row of seats, while Dr. Cross and Mrs. Gabriel took the driver's and passenger's seat respectively.

"Did you make sure to pack your helmets, boys?" asked Dr. Cross. "And your brooms? Your guards and pads?"

"Mom, we packed everything we'd need this year." Riley reassured her. "Comic books included."

"Off to another year of rooming with Malfoy, Tweedledum, and Tweedle-dumber." groaned Tony. "Why can't they have separate rooms for kids who come from Muggle families?"

"I'd rather room with Malfoy than go through what we did last year all over again."

"About that, Anthony, please try to stay out of trouble this year." pleaded Mrs. Gabriel. "I don't want to receive another letter from Prof. Snape saying that you, Riley, and your friends went off trekking down where you kids shouldn't be."

"Yes, mom." sighed Tony.

Mrs. Gabriel started up the minivan, and started to drive the two kids to King's Cross station, while Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train (Tony's favorite song) played on the radio. Upon arriving, she and Dr. Cross walked with their respective sons to Platform 9 and 3/4, which was filled with parents, guardians, and children, most of whom were returning to Hogwarts. Trunks and cages were already being loaded into the luggage car of the train, while students were piling into the other cars, looking for a good place to sit.

"Do you see any of the Weasleys?" asked Tony. "Or Harry or Hermione?"

"That's a negative, buddy." replied Riley.

He scanned the crowd, and spotted Luna standing by the train, already dressed in her Hogwarts robes. Beside her was a man with long pale blond hair similar to hers, who was wearing a set of brown and orange robes.

"Hey, there's Luna!" exclaimed Riley.

"Who?" asked Tony.

"I met her in Diagon Alley, she's starting Hogwarts this year. Over here, Luna!"

Luna and the man she was with looked at the two boys, and walked over to them.

"Hello again, Riley." she greeted, looking at Riley.

"Hi, Luna." responded Riley. "Tony, this is Luna Lovegood. Luna, this is Tony."

Tony reached out and shook Luna's hand, smiling politely.

"I'd like to say for the record that I'm not like most Slytherin," he pointed out. "I'm no snob."

"That's good to know." the man standing beside Luna said. "I'm glad my daughter's already making friends."

He reached out to shake the two boys' hands.

"Xenophilius Lovegood, pleasure to meet you, Riley and Tony." Mr. Lovegood greeted. "And who might you two be?" he added, looking at Dr. Cross and Mrs. Gabriel.

"I'm Sally, and this is Janie." replied Dr. Cross. "I'm Riley's mother, she's Tony's."

Riley, Tony, and Luna excused themselves to start putting their trunks onboard, and then, Luna handed each of her new friends a magazine.

"What's this?" asked Riley.

"A copy of 'The Quibbler'." answered Luna. "My daddy's the editor of it."

"I've never heard of this before. Is it good?"

Tony flipped through the pages of his magazine, and stopped at one page.

"I never heard of a Nargle before." he muttered, looking at one article.

"Oh, yes, they're prone to causing mischief." explained Luna. "Beware of mistletoe, that's where they reside."

"Duly noted."

Riley opened his copy of The Quibbler, and looked at a page showing a picture of Gilderoy Lockhart, with the headline "Gilderoy Lockhart: As fake as his toupee". A snort of laughter escaped from his lips as he tried to hold in his laughter, but failed.

"What's up?" asked Tony.

"Looks like we're not the only ones who don't like Lockhart." snickered Riley. "Look."

Tony peered over his best friend's shoulder, and read the headline, and burst into laughter.

"I like this book already." he declared, looking at Luna.

"It is the truth though, daddy says that he does not believe that Gilderoy Lockhart did all those things he says he did." Luna told them, her tone serious. "We have reason to believe he is taking credit for things he did not do."

"The way he was acting at Flourish and Blotts, I'd agree." said Riley.

Tony glanced at the magazine again, then looked at Luna.

"What's a veela?" he asked, curiously.

Riley peered over the Slytherin's shoulder, and saw what he was looking at. A woman from Southampton named Henrietta Carmichael had declared that Lockhart was half-Veela due to his father having a dalliance with one.

"Ask Hermione." he replied, looking at his best friend.

He closed the magazine up, then opened his trunk to take out his school bag, and closed it again.

"C'mon, let's see if Harry and the guys are on the train yet." Tony decided, as he took out his own bag.

"It's three minutes until we depart, they should be on board." Riley pointed out. "Luna, you want to sit with us?"

Luna nodded, and followed her two new friends towards one of the doors to the train, the three of them stopping to hug and kiss their respective parents goodbye before boarding the train to search for an empty compartment. They continued to walk down the aisle until they saw Hermione sitting in a compartment by herself, reading one of the new schoolbooks. She looked up at the trio as they entered the compartment, and placed a bookmark in her book before closing it.

"You're late." the female Gryffindor scolded the two boys.

"Nice to see you, too, Hermione." said Riley.

Hermione then saw Luna was with them, and turned her attention towards her.

"Hello, who might you be?" she asked.

"Oh, my name is Luna." answered Luna. "I'll be starting my first year at Hogwarts."

"Well, welcome. My name is Hermione Granger, I'm in Gryffindor."

The two of them shook hands, as Tony headed out of the compartment.

"Where's Tony off to?" asked Hermione.

"He went to look for our missing pals." explained Riley. "Harry and Ron should've been here by now, right?"

Hermione stood up and looked out of the window of the compartment on the opposite side of theirs. There were no sign of any redheads, or Harry.

"I don't see them." she announced. "Oh, wait! I see someone coming in through the barrier!"

Riley stood up also, and saw three red-headed people charging through the gate from King's Cross. They were the twins Fred and George Weasley, and Percy Weasley, the Gryffindor prefect.

"It's about time they showed up." Hermione sighed, relieved. "I was starting to worry."

She and Riley sat back down, and waited for Tony to return with their missing friends. A couple of minutes later, Tony reappeared with Ginny behind him.

"Where's Harry and Ron?" asked Riley.

"They were right behind us." replied Ginny.

"They better hurry up, it's almost time to go." said Hermione.

Ginny took a seat between her, and Tony, who sat on the other side of her, across from Riley and Luna. Seconds passed, and the Hogwarts Express' whistle blew. Time had run out, and there was no sign of Harry or Ron. The train started moving, with the students on board saying their farewells to their families for the meantime, before returning to their seats.

"What do you think happened?" asked Ginny.

"They probably found another compartment, or are already looking for us." Tony reassured her. "Don't sweat it, they'll show up."

"And if they missed the train?" asked Hermione.

"Mr. Weasley has a flying car, Hermione."

Luna looked at Tony, interested.

"A flying car?" she repeated.

Ginny elbowed Tony before he could answer, and shook her head.

"Er, sorry." the Slytherin student mumbled.

Time passed on, and the five of them waited for any sign of their two missing friends. Hermione went back to reading her book, "Year with the Yeti", while Luna was showing Ginny a copy of The Quibbler, Riley read one of his many superhero comic books, and Tony waited for the sweets trolley to appear, while listening to Run DMC on his Walkman. Luna looked up from the magazine, and glanced at the comic book in Riley's hand.

"That symbol on that man's outfit," she observed, catching the others' attention. "It's the same as the one from your shirt the other day."

Riley closed his comic book, and looked at the front cover. On it was a picture of Superman flying through the city of Metropolis.

"Yeah, that's sort of like his family's crest, it means 'hope'." he explained, handing the comic book to her. "He's called Superman, and he's an alien from the planet Krypton. He was sent to Earth as a baby, grew up in Smallville, KA under the alias 'Clark Kent', and became a superhero disguised as a reporter."

"Sounds like you admire this man." said Luna.

"It's Riley's greatest ambition to go around flying in blue tights and a red cape." joked Tony.

Riley shot him a glare, and stomped on one of his kneecaps, making him yelp sharply in pain. Luna and Ginny both laughed at the two boys, while Hermione smiled and rolled her eyes, trying to stay focused on her book. Just then, the trolley cart loaded with wizard sweets showed up, and the lady pushing it looked at the five kids inside.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked.

Riley and Tony took their wizard money from their pockets and stood up.

"We're buying, guys." Tony offered, looking at each of the girls in the compartment.

"I'll take a couple of licorice wands." said Ginny.

"Pumpkin pasties for me." agreed Luna.

Riley looked at Hermione, waiting for her to say anything, but she remained focused on her book. Then he and Tony handed the witch pushing the trolley a handful of coins, and purchased some of everything before returning to their seats. The two boys handed out the sweets to their friends, while the witch pushed the cart forward down the aisle. Hermione continued to read from her book until she saw a licorice wand being dangled down in between the spine, held by Tony.

"Here you go." the latter spoke, dropping the wand into the book.

"Thank you." said Hermione.

She started to open the wrapper when she glanced at the Quibbler in Ginny's hands.

"Mind if I have a look at that?" she asked.

Ginny handed her the magazine, and watched as Hermione started to flip through the pages, skimming through each article. Her eyes narrowed with each half second that passed, then finally she looked up at Luna.

"This is absolute rubbish!" Hermione exclaimed, hotly.

Almost instantly, Luna's demeanor changed, angered by the Gryffindor's words.

"It most certainly is not!" she countered. "My father is the editor I'll have you know!"

Ginny, Riley, and Tony looked towards Hermione, who appeared to be a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, returning to her book.

"No, please, go on." said Luna. "I want to know what makes you think The Quibbler is rubbish."

"I've read a lot of books,-

Hermione paused to glare at Tony, who had just opened his mouth.

"Shut up, Tony." she spat, quickly, before continuing. "I've read a lot of books, and I've never heard of Nargles, Wrackspurts, or Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, and this article on Gilderoy Lockhart is a complete lie. I mean, where's the facts to back up this accusation?"

Ginny continued to look between the two as they continued to argue, while Riley and Tony looked at each other, a little afraid.

"In the future, we should start bringing our Quidditch protection gear everywhere we go." said Tony.

"You said it." agreed Riley.

The two then heard the sound of a car driving and looked outside for a moment. There were many hills and trees outside, and the roads were below the railroad tracks. The two boys looked at each other again, confused.

"You heard a car, right?" asked Riley.

"I thought I did." replied Tony.

"...Where's the proof, Luna?" Hermione demanded from beside them. "Show me the proof that these articles are correct!"

She and Luna continued to argue about whether or not the stuff in Mr. Lovegood's magazine were true, while Ginny sat between her and Tony, looking awkward.

"People have sighted them." Luna spat, angrily.

"Oh, so people have seen, that certainly has won me over!" Hermione shouted, sarcastically.

Deciding that no good was to come from this argument, Riley decided to intervene.

"Just because you haven't seen something, doesn't mean it isn't there, Hermione." he defended, looking at his Housemate.

Luna smiled at him appreciatively, while Hermione shot her friend a glare.

"I suppose that means you really believe Superman exists then?" asked Hermione.

"Well, maybe the planet Krypton does exist out there somewhere." Riley pointed out. "Maybe it hasn't been discovered. It took a couple of years or so for Kal-El to appear on Earth, so it must be far away. The Kryptonians were an advanced civilization."

It was then that Tony shot Hermione a dirty look.

"Change the subject, you're encouraging him." he growled, irritatedly.

The five of them heard the sound of a car's engine again, and looked at one another.

"Where is that coming from?" asked Tony.

"We're too high to be nearby any roads." said Hermione.

Ginny looked outside, and did a double take, her eyes slightly widened in surprise. The others followed her gaze, and looked out the window to see a blue car swerving into view...in mid-air. They jumped to their feet to get a better look, and saw two people in the front seats.

"That's my dad's car." gasped Ginny.

"Who's driving it?" asked Riley.

"I think the better question is why is it being driven where everyone can see it?!" Hermione added, looking at him.

Luna squinted her eyes a little to try and see who was driving.

"Awful young to be driving a Muggle vehicle, aren't they?" she asked.

The other four looked at her, surprised, then looked back at the car. Sure enough, Harry and Ron were the ones in the front seats of the car.

"I think we found out what happened to our missing friends." announced Tony.

Suddenly, Harry tumbled out of the passenger's side, and hung onto the door for dear life. Hermione and Ginny screamed in panic, while Riley and Tony looked at each other, worriedly.

"Someone, quick!" shrieked Riley. "Come up with a plan!"

"You tell me, Superboy!" Tony yelled back, shaking him by the shoulders.

He stopped, and both of them quickly looked at Hermione.

"Hermione!" they shouted. "Do something!"

"What do you want me to do?!" asked Hermione.

"You're the smart one!"

Luna, the only one remaining calm through the ordeal, pointed at the car.

"Don't worry, he got back inside." she reassured them.

Hermione, Ginny, Tony, and Riley watched as Harry closed the passenger's side door, and the car pulled out of sight over the train, then they sat back down, sighing in relief.

"I'm going to kill those two." Hermione vowed, fuming.

"I'll bury the bodies." Tony offered, nodding.

"I'll dispose the evidence." Riley piped up.

* * *

Credit goes to friend and voice of reason in this world full of crazies, Peach Wookiee, for that veela comment in the Quibbler article. I wanted there to be some kind of mention of Lockhart in the Quibbler, but all I could come up with was the toupee bit.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	4. False Start

Chapter Four: False Start

The train finally pulled into Hogsmeade station, and the students disembarked to start heading towards the school. Hermione explained to Tony and Riley that they would be going by carriage this time since they were upperclassmen and women, but Ginny and Luna would be going with Hagrid to take the boats to the school.

"Alright, you two, good luck, and don't let Prof. McGonagall intimidate you." Tony said, looking at the two new First Years. "No matter what House you end up in, you'll still be our friends."

He paused to look at Hermione.

"Right, Hermione?" he asked.

Hermione sighed, and nodded in agreement. Ginny and Luna joined their fellow First Years in following Hagrid to the boats, while Hermione, Riley, and Tony started making their way to the carriages. Upon heading there, they were accosted by Fred and George Weasley, both of whom looked exhilarated.

"Did you see that?!" Fred asked, grinning.

"Did you?!" echoed George.

"Tempted to say 'no'." muttered Tony.

"Methinks they're referring to Harry and Ron in the flying car, Tony." Riley whispered to him, before speaking out loud to the twins. "Yeah, we did."

"I can't believe they had the nerve to do that!" exclaimed George.

"They should've invited us for next time." Fred said, wistfully.

Hermione shook her head at the two, disbelievingly. Percy approached the five of them, and shot them a look that reminded them of one a parent would give to their children when they were misbehaving. Hermione, Riley, and Tony boarded a carriage, and rode it to the castle.

* * *

Upon arrival, the Second through Seventh Year students marched to the Great Hall, where they would take their seats at their respective House tables, and wait for the new First Years to be Sorted. Tony detached himself from his group of friends to sit at the Slytherin table, while Hermione and Riley followed their Housemates to the Gryffindor table. They managed to get some good seats near the front, and saved a seat for Ginny to sit. There had been no sign of Harry or Ron still, and it was just about time for the Sorting to begin. The teachers were already present, with the exception of Prof. McGonagall, the deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House, who had the honor of meeting the new students to inform them of how things were done at Hogwarts. Riley semi-fondly remembered when he himself was Sorted into Gryffindor. He was picked right off of the bat, and caught off-guard when the Sorting Hat spoke to him. However, it wasn't as worse as having his best friend being placed in Slytherin, a House that despised Muggleborns and people who weren't Purebloods or supportive of their views. His train of thought derailed when the doors to the Great Hall opened, and Prof. McGonagall led the First Years down the center aisle towards the front.

"Here we go." whispered Hermione.

Riley watched the group of eleven year olds as they piled into the Great Hall, and saw a glimpse of Luna waving at him. Upon waving back, he felt someone nudging him in the back, and turned back to see Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan looking at him.

"Oi, Cross!" Seamus called, quietly. "Who're you waving at?"

"His girlfriend." Hermione answered, jokingly.

Riley felt his face heat up as most of the eyes in the Gryffindor House fell on him, and lowered his hand.

"Ooh, a girlfriend, huh?" Fred started, snickering.

"What's her name?" asked George.

"Her name's Luna." Riley answered, testily. "And she's not my girlfriend."

The Gryffindor boys continued to laugh quietly at him, much to Riley's dismay.

"Uh-oh, gang, Riley here's getting riled up." cracked Fred.

Percy shushed his brothers and Housemates, motioning towards Prof. Dumbledore, the school Headmaster. He stood up, clad in his usual starry blue robes and pointed hat, with his specs on his face. Before the Sorting had begun, he would usually start off with a few warnings. However, since the Sorcerer's Stone had been destroyed near the end of the previous school year, and the threat that had been pursuing it had been vanquished by Harry himself, there would be nothing in the third floor corridors to worry about. There was also the matter of a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher being needed since Prof. Quirrell, who was the host to a parasite form of the Dark Lord Voldemort, was dead.

"Before the Sorting begins, I'd like to make a few Start-of-Term notices," the Headmaster started, looking at his students. "First off, I'd like to welcome aboard our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Prof. Gilderoy Lockhart."

Riley's jaw dropped, as did several other of the males, and excited screams from the female students filled the room as Lockhart emerged from the side of the teachers table. He turned to the students and raised his hands into the air, smiling brightly at them. Prof. McGonagall looked as if she didn't want to be there right now, and Prof. Snape looked as if he wanted to kill his new colleague. At the Gryffindor table, several of the males let out a groan, and muttered in annoyance, while at the Slytherin table, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Tony clapped their hands over their ears in discomfort from the girls' screaming.

"Congrats, boyo, I finally found someone I hate more than you!" Tony said, looking at Draco.

"Likewise!" Draco nodded in agreement.

The cheers had finally died down, much to the relief of the males, and most of the professors it appeared, when they all heard a loud crashing sound. Hermione and Riley quickly looked at one another.

"You don't think...?" Riley started, uneasily.

"They didn't..." Hermione said at the same time.

Prof. Snape, Head of Slytherin House and Potions master, suddenly stood up and left the Great Hall through one of the doors nearby the teachers' table. Riley guessed that he was going to use that excuse to get the heck away from Lockhart and his screaming fans, and he didn't blame him. Prof. Dumbledore continued on with his speech, while Prof. Lockhart sat down between two of the professors near the right hand side of the table.

"While Prof. Snape, our Potions teacher, looks into the disturbance, I will go on ahead." he spoke, returning to his usual calm demeanor. "Next order of business is a reminder to all students that the Forbidden Forest is named that way for a reason. It is not a place for the faint of heart. Thirdly, I feel that I should caution you all to not act so reckless this year."

Prof. Dumbledore looked between the Gryffindor table, specifically towards Hermione and Riley, and the Slytherin table, where Tony was sitting. The events near the end of the previous school year were still fresh in the minds of many.

"Now, let's begin with the Sorting." he announced, before sitting down.

Prof. McGonagall took that as her cue, and picked up the Sorting Hat in her free hand, the other one holding the scroll with the names of the new students on it. A student would be called up, and the Sorting Hat would be placed on their head, then it would shout out the name of the House they would be placed in.

After about seven kids, a boy named Colin Creevey was called up. He was a timid-looking boy with wavy light brown hair, and big brown eyes. Colin walked over to the stool and sat down, and the Sorting Hat was placed onto his head. After a moment of contemplating, the Sorting Hat finally made it's decision.

"Gryffindor!" it shouted.

The Gryffindor House cheered and clapped for Colin, as he hopped off of the stool to take a seat beside Riley. He didn't appear very timid anymore, instead he looked like he was about to explode with excitement.

"Hi, I'm Colin!" the boy greeted, shaking Riley's hand vigorously.

"Uh, hi, Colin," answered Riley. "I'm Riley Cross. Welcome to Gryffindor."

Colin finally released his hand, and they watched as Luna was called up to get Sorted. Riley felt someone nudging his back, and groaned inwardly, knowing what was coming.

"Hey, look, Ry." George called, quietly.

"It's your girlfriend." Fred whispered, teasingly.

"Shut up." growled Riley.

Prof. McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on Luna's head, and the students waited. Suddenly, the Sorting Hat burst into amused laughter, and started to talk.

"Yes, I see. I know exactly where to put you, young lady." the Sorting Hat said, smiling. "A mind as open and perceptive as yours belongs to...Ravenclaw!"

Riley fought back a groan, as the Ravenclaw House clapped for their new Housemate. Yet another good friend had gone into another House.

"Don't worry, Riley," Seamus teased him. "You can still hang out with her in between classes."

Riley slowly turned to shoot a deadly glare at him.

"Is Luna his girlfriend?" asked Colin.

Riley's denial was drowned out by Hermione, the Weasley twins, Seamus, and Dean answering with "yes". Desperate, the comic-obsessed tween turned to the House prefect.

"Can we please get a ruling on this?" he asked.

"All of you, quit teasing him." Percy scolded, looking at several of the Gryffindors.

"Thank you."

"But please, no public displays of affection on school grounds, Riley."

Fred and George were among the first of the Gryffindors to laugh at Riley, who glowered back at his House's Prefect. A few more people had come and gone after being Sorted, and Zachariah Smith had just been placed in Hufflepuff when Prof. McGonagall held up her list once again.

"Ginevra Weasley." she called.

Percy, Fred, George, Hermione, and Riley looked up towards the front, as Ginny walked over to sit down on the stool. The Sorting Hat was placed on her own head, and they waited in silence.

"Ah, a girl Weasley this time!" the Sorting Hat exclaimed. "Don't worry, little girl, I know just where to put you! Gryffindor!"

The Weasley siblings clapped for their sister as she raced over to the Gryffindor table to sit on Hermione's other side. Several minutes passed, and finally, the Sorting ended with a boy named "Harper" who was placed in Slytherin. The Feast finally began, and the students erupted into chatter, while piling food onto their plates.

"Oi, look." Fred called, alerting his Housemates. "Dumbledore and McGonagall are booking it."

The other Gryffindors around him looked up at the teacher's table, and saw that Prof. Dumbledore, and Prof. McGonagall were indeed leaving.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that they found Harry and Ron." guessed Dean.

They then launched into a discussion about Harry and Ron flying the car to Hogwarts, much to Percy and Hermione's dismay. Meanwhile, Colin was talking to Riley.

"I'm from a Muggle family," explained Colin. "No magic parents."

"You, too?" asked Riley. "My friends, Tony and Hermione, and I are Muggleborn, too."

This revelation had made Colin's eagerness increase, if it was even possible.

"Really?" he asked. "What do your parents do? My dad's a milkman."

"Mine and Tony's dads are archaeologists, and my mom is a veterinarian," Riley listed, staring down at his plate. "Tony's mom has decided on becoming an architect, she's already got her degree for it. Then there's Hermione's parents, who are dentists."

"I didn't think I'd meet anyone else like me at this school. I mean, my dad was beyond surprised when I got my letter, and-"

Colin went off on a long explanation as to how he learned he can really use magic, and that his father had bought him a camera for him to take pictures to show the family when he returned. Only when his stomach growled for food did Colin pause in his conversation, giving Riley a break. He wondered if he was like that last year. He was broken out of his thoughts when he saw Luna waving at him again from the Ravenclaw table. Not wanting to be rude to his new friend, he waved back at her.

Soon, it was time for the students to head to their dormitories. Hermione and Riley left with most of the upperclassmen after receiving the new password from Percy, the Gryffindor prefect, and Hermione looked more and more worried with each passing second. Harry and Ron had yet to arrive. Percy reassured his fellow Housemate that they would be fine, that if anyone could find them before they got into any more trouble, it would be Prof. Dumbledore. Knowing he was right, Hermione finally calmed down a little more. The group of Gryffindors climbed up the staircase to the corridor where the Fat Lady's portrait was, and watched as the subject of the painting moved.

"Password?" she asked.

"Wattlebird." one of the older Gryffindor students answered.

The portrait swung open like a door, and the Gryffindors filed into the hole behind where it was, heading into the common room. Hermione excused herself to the girls' dormitory, and followed after the other second year girls, who climbed up the spiral staircase to the door on the left. Riley, Neville, Seamus, and Dean headed to the one on the right, and saw that their things were already brought up and waiting for them. Not only that, Harry and Ron were both sitting on their beds, apparently waiting for them.

"Where've you two been?" asked Dean.

"We've been waiting for you guys to show up!" said Seamus.

"Well, we would've gotten to the Feast if Filch hadn't caught us." Ron grumbled, angrily. "And if that wasn't bad enough, Prof. Snape almost expelled us."

Filch, the caretaker of the school, and Prof. Snape both shared a dislike for troublemakers, for different reasons. Filch had shown a great dislike for the students, whether it was them tracking in mud from outdoors, or breaking the rules. Prof. Snape, on the other hand, favored the Slytherin students over the rest of the students. However, it seemed as if he had despised Harry more than the rest of them.

"I take it Prof. McGonagall and Prof. Dumbledore showed up to save your skins?" asked Riley.

"We saw them leaving just when the Feast had started." Neville explained, as their friends nodded. "So, what happened?"

"Basically, we got told off, and Ron and I have detention." Harry told his dormmates.

"Hermione'll be pleased." cracked Riley. "You should've seen her, she looked ready to flip out when we saw you guys flying by the train."

Harry looked at him, as did Ron, they didn't think their friends would see them.

"You saw us?" he asked.

"Yeah. Us, Ginny, Tony, and Luna." replied Riley.

"We'll talk more tomorrow" said Dean. "We've got classes in the morning."

The other boys murmured their agreements, and changed into their pajamas, set out their school clothes and bags for the morning, then went to bed. Just before they completely fell asleep, Ron suddenly sat upright in his bed.

"Wait a minute, who the bloody hell is Luna?" he asked.

Not wanting to go through this again, Riley pretended to snore.

"You git!" Ron complained, glaring at him.

"Luna is Riley's new girlfriend." Seamus explained, grinning.

Harry sat up in his bed and looked at Riley, who was still trying to pretend to be sound asleep.

"She is not." snapped Riley. "Now go to sleep!"

"Denial's not just a river in Egypt." Dean cracked, trying not to laugh.

Riley made a mental note to get Hermione back for falsely declaring Luna was his girlfriend.

* * *

Okay, I have a question for you guys. Should I have Luna meet Harry and Ron early, or let them meet in Order of the Phoenix? I just had her meet Hermione and my OC because in the fifth movie, Hermione already knew Luna prior to her meeting the rest of the gang.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	5. Learning Something New Each Day

Chapter Five: Learning Something New Each Day

The sun shone brightly on the first day of school at Hogwarts, but clouds still hung over the heads of a few students. Today, a group of Gryffindor and Slytherin Second Years met up in Greenhouse Three for their Herbology class, which was first thing in the morning. The students were talking amongst themselves while waiting for their professor to show up. The Second Years students stood around a long table filled with many potted plants, but of an unknown species. What they were, would be revealed momentarily. An old woman with dirt brown robes and a wrinkled brown hat walked through the door to greet her class.

"Morning, everyone." she greeted.

The students did not hear her. They continued to talk amongst themselves. The woman rapped her wand against the nearby watering can to get their attention.

"Good morning, everyone!" the professor called again, loudly.

"Good morning, Prof. Sprout." the students answered.

Satisfied, Prof. Sprout then started her lesson.

"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, second years. Now gather around, everyone. Today we're going to re-pot Mandrakes."

As the professor turned to grab a nearby pot from behind her, she continued teaching.

"Who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?" she asked.

Hermione raised her hand into the air, instantly, and was called on.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been Petrified to their original state, it's also dangerous." the Gryffindor female explained. "The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Prof. Sprout. "Ten points to Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindors smiled proudly at their House's brightest witch.

"Now, as our Mandrakes are still only seedlings, their cries won't kill you yet." Prof. Sprout told the students. "But they could knock you out for hours, which is why I have given each of you a pair of earmuffs for auditory protection."

The students were then instructed to put on their earmuffs and to make certain that they were secured, then the lesson continued. Prof. Sprout grabbed hold of the plant in the pot in front of her that she had moved, by the leaves, and looked at her students.

"You grasp your Mandrake firmly,..." she started, gripping tightly. "You pull it sharply up out of the pot!"

The Herbology instructor yanked out the plant by the roots, and it appeared to look like a baby that was covered in dirt. It wailed and screamed loudly, causing the students to clamp their hands down on their earmuffs.

"Holy Hell!" yelped Tony.

"It's piercing my brain!" shouted Riley.

Prof. Sprout looked around at the class, then back at the Mandrake in her hand.

"Got it?" she called, loud enough for her students to hear. "And now, you dunk it down into the other pot..."

The professor paused to place the Mandrake down into another pot beside the one she moved from behind her, then started to sprinkle some soil into it.

"...And pour a little sprinkling of soil to keep him warm." she continued.

Her lesson was interrupted by the sound of someone collapsing. Prof. Sprout looked up, and saw that Neville had disappeared, and several of the students were looking down at someone, who she presumed to be him.

"Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs." Prof. Sprout sighed, tiredly.

"No, ma'am." Seamus corrected her. "He's just fainted."

It seemed to have happened more than once, because the teacher told the students to just leave him there, and the students started their classwork, which consisted of doing as she did. Yanking Mandrakes out of their pots, putting them into another, then sprinkling soil into them.

* * *

"No offense, Ron, but I don't think that'll help." said Riley.

He and Harry watched as Ron tried to repair his wand by binding the broken ends together with magical Spellotape. Hermione sat beside Riley, reading another of her schoolbooks. Ron gave up on repairing his wand, and sighed, then looked at Harry.

"Say it, I'm doomed." the former groaned, hopelessly.

There was no point in lying to him.

"You're doomed." said Harry.

"Write home for another wand." Riley told Ron. "I mean, you kinda need your wand to get through school, don't you?"

Before Ron could respond, Colin hurried over beside Riley, smiling at Harry.

"Hi, Harry!" he greeted, excitedly.

The boy stopped to take a picture with the camera in his hands, creating a bright flash that hit several of the students in the eyes, momentarily blinding them.

"I'm Colin Creevey, I'm in Gryffindor, too!" Colin continued, lowering his camera a little.

"Hi, Colin, nice to meet you." Harry responded, awkwardly.

Colin looked over at Riley, who was taking another bite of his sausages.

"Say, Riley, do you think you could take a photo of me and Harry standing together?" he asked. "You know, to prove I've met him?"

"Uh, maybe we should do this when a lot of people aren't looking." replied Riley. "Harry's sort of...the opposite of Lockhart. Prefers to be treated like everyone else rather than be reminded of how famous he is. He doesn't like the attention sometimes."

Colin looked over at Harry, who nodded in agreement.

"Oh, okay." he said. "It was for my dad though. He's a milk man, you know, a Muggle, like all our families been until me."

Harry gave a weak smile, as Colin went off about how nobody knew that he was capable of doing magic until he had gotten a letter from Hogwarts, and thought he was mental. Ron nodded, smiling, listening to the conversation.

"Imagine that." he commented.

"Did you manage to catch anything he said at all?" Riley asked, muttering to Hermione. "All I heard was buzz."

"That's pretty much all I heard, too." Hermione responded, continuing to read her book.

A screeching sound filled the air, as Dean looked at Ron.

"Ron, is that your owl?" he asked.

The other Gryffindors looked upward towards Errol, who was flying down towards the table, a red letter in it's beak. Riley grabbed his goblet, and got out of his seat, stepping back quickly. Errol seemed to make a clear landing towards the youngest male Weasley, then crashed into the dishes in between where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. Colin snapped a picture of the crash landing, and lowered his camera once again. The sound of laughter filled the room soon after.

"Bloody bird's a menace." muttered Ron.

He retrieved the envelope from his owl's beak, and looked at it, horror slowly filling his face.

"Oh, no." the young Gryffindor gasped.

"Look, everyone!" Seamus called to everyone. "Weasley's got himself a Howler."

Riley cringed upon hearing that, while most of the other students laughed. He saw Harry looking at him, confused, and explained it to him.

"When you make people angry, they send Howlers." the Muggleborn wizard told him.

"That doesn't explain much." responded Harry.

"It will in a moment. I've never been around to see it for myself, neither has Tony."

And speaking of the devil, Tony had rushed over to the Gryffindor table to see the Howler for himself.

"Is that it?" he asked. "Man, dad told me the Howler our old principal sent him scared him out of his pants."

"Looks like Ron's about to be scared out of his pants in a second." Riley muttered to him.

Ron shot them a glare, before looking back at his Howler.

"Go on, Ron." Neville encouraged him. "I ignored one from my Gran once. It was horrible."

Ron looked at him for a moment, then started to open the letter. His already-trembling fingers fumbled with the back, and suddenly, a loud, familiar voice pierced the air.

" _Ronald Weasley!_ " Mrs. Weasley's voice shrieked.

Riley and Tony's jaws dropped in horror as the envelope started floating into the air.

"Now I know I read too many comic books." Riley said, stunned.

Tony merely took the camera from Colin, and snapped a picture of the Howler, for future proof that he had not gone insane, before returning the camera. The back of the letter folded itself up so it would appear to have a mouth, as it started to move, while Mrs. Weasley's voice echoed from the letter.

" _How dare you steal that car!_ " her voice rang out, scolding Ron. " _I am absolutely disgusted! Your father's not facing an inquiry at work, and it's entirely your fault!_ "

The letter now flew up towards Ron's terrified face for effect.

" _If you put another toe out of line, we'll bring you straight home!_ " the letter shouted.

Ron nodded, shakingly, and to the surprise of many, the Howler calmed down, and looked towards Ginny.

"Oh, and Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor." it said, in a much more quieter voice. "Your father and I are so proud of you."

Ginny looked away, smiling shyly, and the Howler blew a raspberry at Ron before ripping itself up into shreds. The room went deathly quiet, as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Tony looked at one another.

"Still think I should write home for another wand?" asked Ron.

"I think you're a lot safer with that broken one there." grimaced Riley.

* * *

It was almost the end of the school day, and with only one class to go. Unfortunately, for Harry, Ron, Riley, and Tony, it was Defense Against the Dark Arts. That meant only one thing, their professor would be none other than Prof. Lockhart. Tony and Riley sat at a desk behind Harry and Ron, and they looked around the classroom at the many portraits of their professor.

"I cannot imagine a more painful year in my life." grumbled Tony.

"That's 'cause we've never had to deal with a Lockhart before." Riley reminded him.

The class quieted down when their teacher emerged from the doorway at the top of the stairs, dressed in golden brown robes.

"And speak of the devil." sighed Riley. "It's him."

"I knew I should've swallowed some of my potion before coming here." grunted Tony. "This class cannot get anymore painful."

Prof. Lockhart was oblivious to some of his students' annoyance and disgust towards him, but not of the attention his fans were giving him.

"Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,...me." he announced, smiling. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award."

Riley heard his best friend groaning softly, and turned to look at him. Tony appeared to be in pain, as he ran one set of fingers through his spiky black hair, while the other hand clenched into a fist. If he had to guess, Riley assumed that Tony wanted to throw up. He didn't blame him.

"But I don't talk about that," Lockhart continued, acting humble. "I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him."

He proceeded to laugh at his little quip, but received nothing from the crowd except mixed stares. He changed tactics.

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books. Well done." the celebrity teacher observed, looking around the classroom.

Lockhart walked back over to his desk, and picked up a pile of papers.

"Now I thought we'd all start today with a little quiz." he announced.

Several of the students stared at him as if he was joking. Lockhart mistook the students' mystified stares as worried ones.

"Nothing to worry about." he reassured them, as he started passing out the papers. "Just to check how well you've read them. How much you've, uh, taken in."

Tony and Riley looked at one another after receiving their quizzes, then both proceeded to look through the questions. Harry and Ron appeared to be doing the same thing.

"These questions, they're all about him!" Ron whispered, looking at Harry.

"'What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?'" Harry read, looking at one question.

"'What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?'"

Behind them, Tony set his test back down, shaking his head.

"I stand corrected." he announced, quietly.

" _I_ need an aspirin." Riley said, afterward. "'Which is Gilderoy Lockhart's best side for photographs?'"

Meanwhile, at the front of the classroom, Prof. Lockhart smiled at his students.

"You have thirty minutes." he called. "Start...now!"

The sounds of scribbling quills filled the air, and the students rushed to answer their questions. A half an hour later, Prof. Lockhart was checking the tests, and to his great displeasure, his students had done poorly.

"Tut, tut, hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac," he stated, astounded.

The professor then stood up, smiling, and started walking towards the desks.

"But Ms. Hermione Granger knew that my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil, and market my own range of hair care potions." he announced, standing in front of Hermione's desk. "Good girl."

Several female giggles filled the room as Prof. Lockhart winked at the Gryffindor student. Then the DADA teacher stood up straight again, and held up another test.

"Now, uh, which one of you here is 'Riley Cross'?" he asked.

Almost all of the students except for Tony, Harry, and Ron pointed at Riley, who stared up at the teacher nervously.

"Is there any particular reason as to why you've left your test blank except for where you put your name?" asked Prof. Lockhart.

"I...didn't know the answers, sir." replied Riley.

"Quite alright, son. I'll let you take a make-up quiz tomorrow."

Riley looked as if he had been volunteered to taste test every single kind of poison that Prof. Snape had ever made.

"Th-That'd be...great, sir." he grimaced.

"When you're not reading your ridiculous comic books anyway." quipped Draco.

Prof. Lockhart looked between the two boys, interested.

"Comic books?" he repeated, curiously.

Riley took out a comic book that he had usually kept in his bag for after he was finished with his classwork, or when he was at meals. Prof. Lockhart examined the cover, and stared at the picture of Superman, puzzled.

"What kind of books are they making these days?" he asked, bewildered. "This man has no fashion sense whatsoever. Saving the world in his underwear."

Tony felt his mouth drop open slightly as several of the students started cracking up in laughter. Riley felt his face heat with anger, while his face turned a shade of pink. Prof. Lockhart handed the comic book back to the boy, turning away, chuckling.

"Take a note, kids. There are two kinds of fiction in the world: The good kind, and rubbish like this comic book, and The Quibbler." he told the students. "If you truly believe that it's okay to go out in public like this 'Superman' bloke, or write lies in a magazine and spread horrible rumors about people, then you truly need a reality check."

Tony quickly forced Riley back into his seat, in an attempt to get his best friend to calm down. Prof. Lockhart walked back to his desk, calmly, then he stopped. He turned back around, his wand out, looking at his class, dramatically.

"Now, be warned, it is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind." he spoke, seriously.

Prof. Lockhart paused to tap the cage sitting on his desk once. It started to shake instantly, and something rattled inside underneath the cloth covering it. The students leaned in, interested, as they held their breath.

"You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room." the professor continued. "Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. I must ask you not to scream,..."

Several of the students looked at one another, then looked back at the small cage.

"...it might provoke them!" Prof. Lockhart finished, dramatically.

The cloth was removed, revealing several small blue creatures flying around inside. Tony sat back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling, annoyed, while Riley faceplanted onto the table.

"Cornish pixies?" Seamus asked, laughing.

"Freshly caught Cornish pixies." confirmed Prof. Lockhart.

He smirked at Seamus, as he continued to laugh.

"Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnegan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters." he declared, moving his hand toward the cage door. "Let's see what you make of them."

It was as if he opened Pandora's Box. The moment the door opened, the pixies spilled out like water, and flew around the classroom. The students scrambled out of their seats, and tried to catch them, or hid from sight. Prof. Lockhart continued to encourage his students to gather up the little imp-like creatures, who started to tear apart the contents of the room. Two of them grabbed Neville by the ears and lifted him high into the ceiling until the back of his robes got caught on the chandelier. Riley felt a tug at his backpack, and saw that a pixie was trying to make off with one of his comic books.

"Hey, let go of that!" he yelped, snatching it out of the pixie's hands.

Tony quickly picked up a nearby book and flung it towards the pixie, knocking it to the ground. He walked over to pick it back up, and examined it.

"Guess we finally found a real use for these Lockhart books, buddy." he said, smiling.

"Let's do it." grinned Riley.

Tony picked up another book, while Riley took just one, and both of them started using the books to fight off the pixies. Harry watched this, and followed their lead. He picked up one of his school books and turned to Hermione, who was under attack by another pixie.

"Stop! Stop!" he shouted, gesturing for her to stop. "Hold still!"

Hermione did as she was told, and Harry whacked one of the pixies with his book. Then Prof. Lockhart decided that this lesson was over. He held up his wand and thought fast.

" _Peskipiksi Pesternomi_!" he shouted.

The spell did nothing, and the celebrity's wand was snatched out of his wand by a zooming Cornish pixie. It flew toward the ceiling, by the hook holding the skeleton of the dragon up, and shattered the hook, causing the dragon skeleton to drop.

"Yeehaw!" yelled a pixie that was riding on the skeleton like a cowboy.

Prof. Lockhart watched as the skeleton crashed to the ground, and decided to run for his life. He bolted up the stairs, trying and failing to save one of his portraits in the process, then stopped to look back down at Harry and his friends.

"I'll ask you five to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." he called down to them.

"Are you serious?!" Tony yelled, outraged. "Aren't you the teacher?!"

He watched as their teacher evacuated from the classroom, leaving them to deal with the chaos.

"We better get some good points for this!" the Slytherin tween growled, angrily.

"What do we do now?!" asked Ron.

Hermione answered him quickly by standing up, and pointing her wand into the air.

" _Immobulus_!" she shouted.

A blue pulse shot out of the wand, and hit the pixies, causing them to float into the air, paralyzed. Hermione smiled to herself, proud of her work, while Neville looked down at them.

"Why is it always me?" the latter asked.

"We'll get you down, buddy." Riley called up to him. "Guys, move these desks out of the way. Hermione, be ready to cast."

Several of the Gryffindors moved the desks away from underneath Neville, and Tony and Riley stood underneath him.

"Okay, Hermione, do it!" said Riley.

" _Descendo_!" Hermione called, pointing her wand at Neville.

Her Housemate suddenly flew down, and dropped onto Riley and Tony, causing them to crash to the ground. Neville sat up, and looked down at his friends.

"Sorry, guys." he apologized.

"Don't mention it." replied Tony.

* * *

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	6. Meaning of the Word

Chapter Six: The Meaning of the Word

On Saturday morning, very early in the morning, Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, led his team down to the Quidditch field to train, and for Riley to try out for the team. He carried his Silver Arrow over his shoulder as he marched alongside Harry and the rest of the team to the field.

"Now, Riley, mind you, you might not get to play even if you do make it on the team." Oliver reminded the new recruit.

"I'll be a happy man if I can play at least once." said Riley.

"When did you become a man?" asked Fred.

"Last I checked, you were twelve." agreed George.

Riley stared at the twins for a moment, then looked at Harry.

"And I thought Tony was bad." he muttered to him.

"Before we return to business, just a reminder to our Beaters: Don't scare the trainee today, you two." Oliver announced to his teammates.

"Killjoy." muttered Fred and George.

The Gryffindor team captain cleared his throat again, gaining his team's undivided attention.

"Now, I spent the summer devising a whole new Quidditch program," he declared. "We're gonna train earlier, harder, and longer."

"Now _you're_ scaring me." grinned Riley.

Oliver made to retort, but something had caught his eye.

"What? I don't believe it." he muttered, irritated.

The rest of the team followed his gaze, and saw several Slytherin students dressed in their Quidditch robes, marching into the courtyard.

"Where do you think you're going, Flint?" demanded Oliver.

"Quidditch practice." replied Flint, the Slytherin team captain.

The two teams stopped in the middle of the courtyard to face each other.

"I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today." Oliver told his rival.

"Easy, Wood." Flint retorted, holding out a note. "I've got a note."

Riley saw Tony standing at the side of the team, holding onto his broomstick, looking irritated.

"Trying out, too, Tony?" he asked.

"Thanks to Prof. Snape I'm able to." replied Tony. "They almost didn't let me try out 'cause I'm Muggleborn."

Oliver shot Flint a glare for a moment before starting to read the note he had. The people outside of Slytherin House didn't believe in discrimination towards non-Purebloods, and only a handful of Slytherin weren't discriminative. While Oliver read the note, Hermione and Ron walked toward the teams to see what was going on.

"'I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission to practice today, owing to the need to train their new Seeker and reserve player.'" Oliver read, before looking up at Flint. "You've got a new Seeker. Who? Gabriel?"

Tony shook his head, grimacing, and stepped to the side. Draco Malfoy stepped forward from the group of Slytherin students, smirking.

"Malfoy?" Harry groaned, disbelievingly.

"And the hits just keep on coming." Riley grumbled, annoyed.

"That's right." agreed Draco. "And that's not all that's new this year."

He and the other members of his team, aside from Tony, held out their brooms for all to see. Ron squinted at the words etched into the top, and gasped in surprise.

"Those are Nimbus 2001s." he breathed. "How did you get those?"

"A gift from Draco's father." replied Flint.

Riley narrowed his eyes at Draco. He should've known when he saw him and his father coming out of the shop the day he and Tony went to purchase their equipment and brooms.

"You see, Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best." Draco bragged, smiling. "Potter's Nimbus 2000, Cross' Silver Arrow, and Gabriel's Moontrimmer may be fast, but our brooms will leave them all into the dust."

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in." Hermione retorted, looking back at him. "They got in on pure talent, as I imagine even Tony could."

Tony smiled at her in appreciation, and several of the Gryffindors laughed. Hermione had won that round. Draco merely glared at her, and walked over to her.

"No one asked your opinion,...you filthy little Mudblood." he spat.

Harry watched as Hermione stared back at the Slytherin boy, angry. Behind him, Riley made to charge at Draco, but was caught by Fred and George, who told him to calm down. Tony looked as if he wanted to murder his teammate, but instead restrained himself. Ron, on the other hand, did something about it. He took out his wand, not taking his eyes off of Draco, and pointed it at him.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy." Ron declared, angrily. "Eat slugs!"

Before anyone could stop him, the curse backfired in the wand, and blasted it's owner. Ron was sent flying backwards to the ground on his back, and the Gryffindor team, Hermione, and Tony rushed over to him, as the Slytherin team started to laugh.

"Ron, are you okay?!" asked Hermione. "Say something!"

Ron, who appeared to be ill, slowly turned over and pushed himself up on all fours. His response came in the form of a slug that was belched out onto the ground. Colin pushed past the Gryffindor team, and held up the camera to take a picture of the scene.

"Wow! Can you turn him around, Harry?" he asked, excitedly.

"No, Colin!" Harry shouted, as he and Hermione helped Ron to his feet. "Get out of the way!"

He and Hermione decided to take their friend to Hagrid's and the two Quidditch teams watched as Ron was dragged away, burping up slugs. The Gryffindors and Tony looked at one another in concern, while the Slytherin team laughed.

"You think he'll be alright?" asked Tony.

"I hope so." replied Riley.

Oliver let out a sigh of defeat. Training was going to have to be put off for a while.

"Team, back to the dorms. We'll practice later." he announced. "Cross, go after Potter and Granger. Make sure Weasley gets help."

Riley nodded and took off, with Tony following after him.

* * *

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Tony sat in the hut, waiting for Hagrid to return. They explained the situation to the half-giant, and were told to come inside and have a seat, while he went to get something to help for now. Hagrid returned a few moments later with a bucket in his hands.

"This calls for a specialist's equipment." he announced, handing the bucket to Ron. "Nothing to do but wait till it stops, I'm afraid."

Ron burped up another slug in the bucket, making the others around him grimace.

"Better out than in." said Hagrid. "Who was Ron trying to curse anyway?"

"Malfoy." replied Harry. "He called Hermione..."

He trailed off, not thinking it was a good idea to say the word that Draco had said. Hermione looked down at the ground, her feelings still hurt, and Tony patted her on the back, comfortingly.

"Well, I don't know exactly what it means, but I've heard You-Know-Who call Tony and Riley it a couple of times last year." Harry explained, looking at Hermione.

Hermione stood up and walked to the side of the room, her back on her friends. She crossed her arms over her chest, as her eyes welled up with tears.

"He called me a 'Mudblood'." she stated.

Hagrid looked at the female Gryffindor in shock.

"He did not!" he growled.

"What's a Mudblood?" asked Harry.

Riley and Tony went to answer, but Hermione had turned back around to face her friends, and started to walk back towards them.

"It means 'dirty blood'." she replied. "Mudblood's a foul name for someone who's Muggleborn. Someone with non-magic parents. Someone like me, Riley, and Tony."

Harry looked between her, and Riley and Tony who nodded in confirmation.

"It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation." Hermione finished, on the verge of crying.

"Basically, Harry, it's the equivalent of calling a black person the 'n' word." said Riley.

Harry nodded, starting to understand.

"See, the thing is, Harry, there are some wizards, like the Malfoy family who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call 'pureblood'." Hagrid explained, looking at him. "If I'm right, Tony here probably gets called that name everyday when Prof. Snape's back is turned."

Harry looked at Tony, who nodded in agreement, and stared back at Hagrid in horror.

"That's horrible!" he exclaimed.

At that moment, Ron belched up another slug, before looking up from his bucket.

"It's disgusting." he said.

"And it's codswallop to boot. Dirty blood." Hagrid agreed, rolling his eyes. "Why, there isn't a wizard alive today that's not half-blood or less. More to the point, they've yet to think of a spell that our Hermione can't do."

Hermione, who by that point had tears rolling down her face, was beckoned over to Hagrid, who smiled warmly at her.

"Don't you think on it, Hermione." Hagrid told her. "Don't you think on it for one minute."

Hermione smiled back at him, feeling much better.

* * *

That evening, while Harry and Ron went off to serve their detentions, Hermione, Tony, and Riley went off to the Great Hall for dinner. Earlier that day, after leaving Hagrid's, Harry, Riley, and Tony headed to the Quidditch field to train with their teams. Tony, who had applied for the Keeper's position of his team, was put through a tougher training regimen than Draco was, but with the support of his friends, he made it through without failing a save. Riley, who applied for a Beater's position, did great at keeping the bludgers away from his teammates, and aimed them towards the enemy players. Unfortunately, Riley did not make the team, but was kept as a reserve Beater, while Tony was benched even though he did a great job at protecting the goals.

"All that hard work." groaned Tony. "Why couldn't I have been placed in another House?"

"Maybe it's not too late to switch?" Riley offered.

"Unfortunately, once you're placed in a House, you're there until you graduate." Hermione told him.

Tony let out a strangled growl, causing his friends to look at him. They couldn't blame him. Most of the people in his House looked down on people like the three of them. And speaking of Muggleborns, Colin hurried towards them, his camera in his hands.

"Hi, guys!" he greeted.

"Hi, Colin." responded Hermione.

"Where are Harry and Ron?"

"Serving detention." replied Tony. "Where, I don't know."

Colin nodded, a little disappointed. As the four of them made their way to the Great Hall, Hermione spotted Luna standing by the wall.

"Look, Riley, it's your girlfriend." she teased, looking at Riley.

"Hermione,-" Riley started, glaring at her.

Luna appeared to have heard him, because she looked over at them, smiling. Riley waved at her, and walked towards her.

"What are you doing here, Luna?" he asked.

"Same thing you are, I suppose." replied Luna.

A flash hit her eyes, and Riley turned to look at Colin, who had snapped a picture of them. Hermione and Tony smiled, not objecting to it.

"I've been meaning to ask, Colin, how much film does that camera have?" asked Riley.

"Plenty to last the whole year." replied Colin.

Riley groaned inwardly, making a mental note to tell Harry. After dinner was over, which Ron had arrived at during some point, Hermione, Ron, Riley, and Tony went to go retrieve Harry from his detention with Prof. Lockhart. They soon found Harry walking along the wall, pressing his ear against it.

"Harry!" Hermione called out to him.

Harry looked up at them, alarmed.

"Did you hear it?" he asked.

His friends looked at him, confused and worried.

"Hear what?" asked Ron.

"That voice." replied Harry.

"Voice?" Hermione asked, fear lacing her voice. "What voice?"

Riley looked up at the ceiling, while Tony pressed his own ear against the wall, straining to hear what Harry was referring to.

"I heard it first in Lockhart's office." Harry told them. "And then again just-"

He trailed off in mid sentence, his eyes going back up towards the ceiling.

"It's moving." he whispered. "I think it's going to kill."

Before anyone could stop him, Harry took off down the hall, his friends following after him.

"Kill?" Ron repeated, looking at him.

"Harry, wait!" Hermione called, chasing after her friend. "Not so fast!"

Ron, Riley, and Tony hurried after her and Harry instantly, chasing their friends down the hall.

"What does it sound like?" asked Tony.

"And why can't we hear it?" added Riley.

Harry suddenly stopped at the intersection, and looked from side to side before walking down the right hallway. The others followed behind him, and the five of them saw that the hallway was flooded with water.

"What happened here?" asked Riley.

"Maybe a pipe burst." replied Tony.

The five Second Years finally came to a halt when Harry raised an arm to stop his friends. They followed his gaze to the wall on the left, and saw several small spiders fleeing up the wall toward the window.

"Strange." whispered Harry. "I've never seen spiders act like that."

"I don't like spiders." muttered Ron.

"And I don't like snakes." Tony said, looking at him. "But we have to deal."

Hermione looked at Riley, raising an eyebrow.

"Rattlesnake accident." the latter explained.

"Can't be as bad as having your teddy bear turned into a giant spider." Ron retorted.

"Knock it off." sighed Hermione.

Ron then noticed something in the puddle of water at their feet.

"What's that?" he asked.

Tony looked from the puddle to the wall around the corner. A message was painted on it in red.

"Holy Hell." he whispered.

"'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened.'" Hermione read, shakily. "'Enemies of the heir...beware.'"

Tony stepped forward cautiously, and wiped at part of message with his index finger, then sniffed at the red paint that came off on it.

"Iron." he muttered.

"It's written in blood." Hermione realized, fearfully.

"But whose?" asked Riley.

Nobody answered. Harry's attention was focused on something else.

"Oh, no." he gasped.

The others followed his gaze, and saw Mrs. Norris, the old cat who belonged to the caretaker, Argus Filch, hanging from a torch by her tail. Riley stepped forward to inspect the animal, and checked for vital signs. To his surprise, the cat was alive. Tony walked over beside him, his face etched in shock and horror.

"Time of death?" he asked.

"She's not dead, Tony." Riley whispered to him. "But it's so bizarre."

Behind them, they heard footsteps marching towards the group. From both sides, students arrived at the scene. Draco looked up at the message, and scoffed.

"'Enemies of the Heir, beware.'" he read.

He looked over at Harry and his friends, smirking.

"You'll be next, Mudbloods." he declared.

Tony felt his jaw set, he felt his anger surge, and pointed at his Housemate.

"Malfoy, so help me-" he started.

He was cut off by another's shouting.

"What's going on here?" Filch's voice called. "Go on! Make way, make way!"

Filch pushed through the crowd of students who were standing where Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tony, and Riley had come from, and looked at Harry.

"Potter?" he called. "What are you-"

Filch stopped in his interrogation when his eyes spotted Mrs. Norris' form hanging from the torch, with Riley and Tony standing nearby it.

"Mrs. Norris?" he gasped, shocked.

Sadness filled the old man's eyes for a moment, then they filled with growing rage when they fell on Harry.

"You've murdered my cat." Filch declared, quietly.

Tony marched forward and tried to pull Harry back from the man, who began to advance on them.

"No. No." Harry spoke, trying to prove his innocence.

"I'll kill you." Filch stated, calmly.

"Filch, listen," Riley intervened, hurrying to jump between him and Harry and Tony. "She's not dead! I checked!"

Filch did not listen. He reached out and grabbed Harry's collar, jerking on it.

"I'll kill you!" he shouted.

Tony's hand went to his robes, aiming to whip out his wand if he needed to defend his friends. Suddenly, a new voice called out.

"Argus!" Prof. Dumbledore shouted.

He, Prof. McGonagall, Prof. Snape, and Prof. Lockhart walked towards the scene through the sea of Slytherin.

"Argus, I..." the headmaster started.

He stopped when he noticed Mrs. Norris the message on the wall. The students were then dismissed to their dormitories, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Riley tried to follow after their fellow Gryffindor, while Tony went after the rest of Slytherin House, but were told to stay behind.

"She's not dead, Argus." Prof. Dumbledore reassured the caretaker. "She has been Petrified."

"Ah, thought so!" Prof. Lockhart exclaimed, smiling. "So unlucky I wasn't there. I know exactly the countercurse that could've spared her."

Harry, Ron, and Riley felt an immense urge to roll their eyes. Meanwhile, Tony looked up at the school headmaster.

"Now hold on, how do we even know that she's been cursed?" he asked. "I mean, doesn't it take quite a powerful Dark spell to do that?"

"Good observation, Mr. Gabriel, and you're right. It would've taken a powerful wizard to pull that off." replied Prof. Dumbledore. "But it may not have been a curse. How she has been Petrified, I cannot say."

"Ask him!" Filch barked, nodding at Harry. "It's him that's done it! You saw what he wrote on the wall!"

"It's not true, sir!" Harry argued, quickly. "I swear! I never touched Mrs. Norris!"

"Rubbish!"

Prof. Snape then decided to settle the argument.

"If I might, headmaster?" he offered. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

His statement defending Harry threw the five students for a loop. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another, while Tony and Riley stared at their professor, confused. It was very unlike him to suddenly support Harry like this.

"However,...the circumstances are suspicious." he added, walking forward. "I, for one, don't recall seeing Potter at dinner."

"I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus." Prof. Lockhart countered, raising a hand. "You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail."

"That's why Ron, Riley, Tony, and I went looking for him, professor." Hermione threw in. "We'd just found him when he said..."

She stopped, suddenly. Prof. Snape looked at her, waiting for her to finish.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" he asked.

"When I said I wasn't hungry." replied Harry. "We were heading back to the common room when we found Mrs. Norris."

Prof. Snape stared at him for a moment, then slowly turned to look at Prof. Dumbledore.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus." the latter decided.

That was not good enough for Filch.

"My cat has been Petrified." he reminded them. "I want to see some punishment!"

"I believe we went over this already." Prof. Dumbledore told him. "Mr. Gabriel made an interesting point. It would've taken a powerful Dark curse to Petrify Mrs. Norris, and Second Year students are not yet capable of such magic. We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrake. When matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris. And in the meantime,..."

He stopped to look at the five students, who were still standing nearby.

"...I strongly recommend caution...to all." he finished.

Prof. Snape was then allowed to escort Tony back to his dormitory, while Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Riley were sent back to the Gryffindor tower. Once reaching the staircases, Hermione addressed her friends.

"It's a bit strange, isn't it?" she asked.

"Strange?" Harry repeated, confused.

"You hear this voice, a voice only you can hear, and then Mrs. Norris turns up Petrified? It's just strange."

"Do you think I should have told them? Dumbledore and the others, I mean?"

"Are you mad?!" demanded Ron.

"Prof. Dumbledore and Prof. McGonagall might look into it, the rest will just think you've lost it." Riley told his friend.

"No, Harry. Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign."

Hermione continued walking up the stairs, leaving her friends to linger behind her. A man in a painting beside where Harry's head was looked at him with a shrug.

"She's right, you know." he said.

* * *

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	7. The Legend of the Chamber

Chapter Seven: The Legend of the Chamber

In Transfiguration class a few weeks later, the students were told to bring their pets to class. Ron kept telling Riley the whole time to keep his cat, Bubba, away from Scabbers. Bubba just purred as he rested in the cage. Owls were not seen in the classroom though, so Harry and Tony couldn't have brought in their animals.

"Could I have your attention, please?" Prof. McGonagall called, looking at her students. "Right. Now, today, we will be transforming animals into water goblets."

Beside her was a very exotic-looking black and white-feathered bird.

"Like so." Prof. McGonagall said, tapping the bird with the wand a few times. "One,...two,...three,... _Vera Verto_."

The bird changed into a clear glass goblet, much to the amazement of her class.

"Now it's your turn," the transfiguration teacher announced. "Who would like to go first?"

Tony shot his hand up into the air instantly.

"Go ahead, Mr. Gabriel." Prof. McGonagall nodded, pointing her wand at him. "Maybe Mr. Cross won't mind if he allowed you to use his cat?"

Riley opened his cat carrier, letting Bubba crawl out of the cage. Tony gently tapped the cat's head with the tip of his wand as the professor did, and spoke the incantation.

" _Vera Verto_." he spoke.

Bubba was transformed into a glass goblet also.

"Excellent work, young man." said Prof. McGonagall. "Ten points to Slytherin."

She walked towards their table, and reverted Bubba back to normal with her wand. Bubba then scurried back into the cat carrier.

"Now, who would like to go next?" asked the transfiguration teacher.

Nobody raised their hands. Not even Hermione did.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley." Prof. McGonagall said, walking towards Harry and Ron's desk. "'One, two, three. _Vera Verto_."

Ron cleared his throat, and tapped his wand at the air above Scabbers.

" _Vera Verto_!" he cried.

Green sparks ejected from the wand, and Scabbers partially turned into a squeaking, fur-covered goblet with a tail. The class started to chuckle at the sight.

"That wand needs replacing, Mr. Weasley." observed Prof. McGonagall.

She started to walk back towards the front of the class when she saw Hermione raising her hand, and stopped.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" she asked.

"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets." answered Hermione.

Prof. McGonagall saw that her entire class was interested. She knew that if she didn't answer now, nobody would pay attention to her class. Or worse.

"Very well." she sighed.

Riley quietly picked up his quill and started to copy down what she was about to say.

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin." Prof. McGonagall explained, looking at her students. "Now three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously, one did not."

"Three guesses who." cracked Ron.

The Gryffindor Head of House looked at him now, having heard what he said.

"Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts." she continued, walking down one aisle between two rows of tables. "He believed magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. In other words, pure-bloods."

As she said this, Draco shot a few certain Muggleborns a look.

"Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school." Prof. McGonagall went on. "Now, according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though, shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true Heir returned to the school. The Heir alone would be able to open the Chamber and unleash the horror within, and by so doing purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."

Riley and Tony glanced at each other, both gulping.

"Muggle-borns." Hermione said, filling in the blank.

Her Head of House pointed her wand at her, as if saying she had answered that correctly.

"Naturally, the school has been searched many times." Prof. McGonagall finished. "No such chamber has been found."

"Professor, what exactly does legend tell us lies within the Chamber?" asked Hermione.

"The Chamber is said to be home to something that only the Heir of Slytherin can control. It is said to be the home of a monster."

"Five Galleons it's a snake." muttered Tony. "I mean, it is the mascot of our House."

* * *

After class had ended, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Tony walked down the halls, taking in what they had learned.

"Do you think it's true?" asked Ron. "Do you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yes." replied Hermione. "Couldn't you tell? McGonagall's worried. All the teachers are."

"If there really is a Chamber of Secrets, and it has been opened, that means-" Harry started, his eyes falling towards the floor.

"The Heir of Slytherin has returned to Hogwarts. The question is who is it?"

Riley jerked his thumb at Tony.

"We can rule this guy out obviously." he said.

"But it might be a Slytherin, because obviously we're looking for the 'Heir of Slytherin', right?" asked Tony.

Ron then pretended to think for a moment.

"Let's think." he wondered aloud. "Who do we know who thinks all Muggleborns are scum?"

"If you're talking about Malfoy,-" Hermione started, facing forward still.

"Of course! You heard him! 'You'll be next, Mudbloods.'"

"I heard him. But Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?"

"Ron, there's more than one supremacist Slytherin." Tony broke in. "He may have gone to this school in the past, and no, I'm not referring to Snape."

"But maybe Ron's right, guys. I mean, look at Malfoy's family." Harry pointed out. "The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for centuries."

While they wracked their heads to think of something, Ron's eyes lit up with remembrance.

"Crabbe and Goyle must know!" he gasped. "Maybe we could trick them into telling."

"Even they aren't that thick." Hermione laughed, mirthfully. "But there might be another way."

The five of them stopped in the corridor, all eyes on Hermione.

"Mind you, it would be difficult, not to mention we'd be breaking about fifty school rules, and it'll be dangerous." Hermione told her friends. "Very dangerous. Plus, Tony would have to be a big help in this plan."

The Gryffindors looked at their Slytherin friend, who looked back at them confused.

"Me?" asked Tony.

The five of them headed to the library, where Hermione went to look for the book that would help them with this plan. Meanwhile, Riley was looking at a book on Animagus transformation, and showed a page to his best friend.

"How would you like to be able to do this?" he asked.

Tony looked at the page Riley was showing him, and looked at him.

"Yeah, you can be like that one guy, Batman." he cracked.

"What are you two looking at?" asked Harry.

"A Transfiguration book, this one talks about Animagi transformations." explained Riley.

Harry stared at him for a moment, then looked at Ron.

"I remember Fred and George talking about that." the latter explained. "We learn about it next year in Transfiguration. An Animagus is someone who can turn into animals."

Harry looked back at Riley, puzzled.

"You want to change into an animal?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you?" asked Riley.

Their conversation was broke off when Hermione walked back towards them with a book in her hands.

"Here it is." she whispered, once she was beside them. "The Polyjuice Potion."

The boys gathered around her as Hermione opened the book to the page she was looking for, and started to read.

"'Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another'." described Hermione.

"You mean, if Harry and I drink that stuff, we'll turn into Crabbe and Goyle?" asked Ron.

"Yes."

"Wicked! Malfoy will tell us anything."

"Right down to the kind of underwear his mommy buys him." joked Tony.

Ron stared at him in disgust, while Harry tried not to burst into laughter.

"Charming, Tony." muttered Hermione, who looked a little disturbed at the comment for a moment. "But it's tricky, I've never seen a more complicated potion."

"How long will it take?" asked Harry.

"A month."

The other boys stared at Hermione in disbelief.

"'A month'?" repeated Harry. "But Hermione, if Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin he could attack half the Muggleborns in the school by then."

Tony slowly turned to glare at him. He lived in the same room as Draco did, he didn't want to end up sleeping with one eye open until the potion was made.

"I know." Hermione said, closing the book. "But it's the only plan we've got."

* * *

Later, Riley started walking toward the hall that led to the exit of the castle to head to Hagrid's hut, so he could visit Fluffy, the three-headed guard dog. He was tasked with helping Hagrid care for the dog since Fluffy had taken a liking to Riley upon their second encounter during the last few days of the previous school year. Prof. Dumbledore and Hagrid had told him that it was extraordinary seeing Fluffy act so docile around the boy, and upon Riley asking if he could help Hagrid care for the dog, Hagrid agreed, as did the headmaster, but only if he agreed to be careful and not brag too much about it.

Along the way, Riley heard the sound of laughter, and poked his head around the corner. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle stood in front of Luna, looking at a copy of the Quibbler.

"Seriously, how can your father afford to send you to school when this rubbish isn't worth the paper it's printed on?" demanded Draco. "Lockhart was right about you Lovegoods, and so was my father."

"If you truly believe that, you are as narrow-minded as they are." Luna retorted, calmly.

"What is wrong with you? You really are loony, Lovegood."

Riley stormed out from behind the corner, his teeth gritting angrily. He stormed over to the four, and stood beside Luna.

"Malfoy, if you don't back off now, I'll make you regret it." he threatened.

"And here we have the second freak." Draco announced, chuckling. "It's Underpants Man."

"His name is 'Superman', and if anyone's a freak, it's you. You obviously have nothing better to do if you've got to go around bullying people."

Draco stopped laughing and walked towards Riley, the two staring each other down, angrily.

"If anyone's the freak, it's the Mudblood filth standing right in front of me." he snarled.

"Whatever filth you assume runs in mine and every other Muggleborn person's blood has to be cleaner than the grease in your hair, Malfoy." retorted Riley. "Get lost, and don't let me catch you bullying my friend again. I'm not afraid of getting detention for cursing you, and unlike Ron's wand, mine's perfectly in good condition still."

The two boys glared at each other for a moment longer, then Malfoy shoved past Riley, walking away. Crabbe and Goyle did the same thing, leaving Luna and Riley standing there in the hallway.

"He's not very fond of you, is he?" asked Luna.

"That doesn't bother me." Riley told her. "What bothers me is that he can go around talking trash, and think that he's invincible to anything."

He then turned to face his friend.

"For what it's worth though, it honestly wouldn't matter if anything in the Quibbler is true or not, it's a fascinating read." the Gryffindor boy told her. "My father's always told me that he's an archaeologist because there's still many mysteries in the world that need to be discovered. So we all still have quite a lot to learn about this world as a whole, I know I do."

"What do you know now?" asked Luna.

"That Lockhart is the one in need of a reality check. Heroes exist to truly help those who need it, not for fame and fortune. That's the kind of person Harry is in my point of view, he doesn't seek to milk his reputation for all it's worth. He just cares about his fellow man and woman."

"You seem to be a very good friend to him to think of him that way, Riley."

Riley smiled at her, shyly. Unbeknownst to either of the two students, someone had been watching them from around the corner as they continued to talk.

* * *

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	8. First

Chapter Eight: First

It was the beginning of November, and it was just about time for the first Quidditch match of the school year, with Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Ron, Hermione, and Riley were heading down to the stands to get a good seat when Fred and George, who were dressed in their Quidditch robes walked over to them.

"What's going on?" asked Ron.

Instead of answering, Fred and George each seized one of Riley's arms, and started dragging him away.

"Hey, guys?" Riley called, confused. "Guys?"

Ron and Hermione only stared at him, completely lost to as what was going on. Riley found himself being dragged towards the locker rooms of the Quidditch team, and Harry stood nearby with both his and Riley's brooms in his hands.

"Catch." he said, tossing one of the brooms forward.

Riley, who was released from the Weasley twins' grasp at last, caught the broom in his hands. It was his Silver Arrow broom.

"I'm playing?" he asked.

"Only twice a year, Cross." Fred told him. "Don't make me regret it."

The rest of the team knew that he meant that in a joking manner. Riley quickly got changed into his Quidditch robes, his helmet, and padding, then sat with the team for Oliver's speech. His heart sunk however, he would be playing while Tony wouldn't have, and that made him feel bad. He didn't want his best friend to be left out.

"...Now, Cross, I want you to guard me and Harry, Fred will cover the Chasers." Oliver spoke, breaking him from his train of thought. "Don't cover Harry too much, and try not to whack the Snitch."

"Right." Riley nodded.

"Everyone else understand the plan? Just 'cause there's a new Keeper and Seeker doesn't mean we should worry."

Riley's face brightened up hearing that. So Tony was playing after all. He picked up his bat, and broom, then followed after his team to the doors that led to the field.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm hoping Colin can take a few snapshots of the match." said Riley. "I can buy a few pictures off of him and show them to my brothers."

"Knowing him, Riley, he will." said Harry.

* * *

The stadium was full of cheering people, but the Slytherin House was cheering the loudest. Their team were in the lead with 80 points, while Gryffindor had just 30. The new Nimbus 2001s that Mr. Malfoy had bought served their purpose well, earning them a great lead over the Gryffindor team. Tony was yet the only one who did not fly with a Nimbus 2001, and used his Moontrimmer, which still helped him do a great job at protecting his goal posts.

Riley swerved around the field, swinging his bat at Bludgers that dared to cross his path. He watched as one of the Gryffindor Chasers flew towards the Slytherin goals, a Quaffle under her arm, aiming to score another one for their team, but Tony had intercepted the throw. He flew fast and caught the ball again, knocking it towards a dark-haired Chaser on his team. The boy flew back towards the opposite team's goals and threw the ball up a little and punched it towards one of the rings. It missed, and Angelina Johnson, one of the Gryffindor Chasers, caught it. She flew back towards the Slytherin goals, but the Quaffle was knocked out from under her arm by another Chaser. A second Slytherin Chaser caught it and sped back towards the Gryffindor goals, and threw it through the hoop, scoring a goal.

"Another goal for Slytherin!" shouted Lee. "They lead Gryffindor 90 to 30!"

Riley watched as the Slytherin team put a burst of speed on their brooms as they sped through the air, nearly hitting Harry. He was becoming increasingly annoyed at their showing off. A whooshing sound alerted him to the sound of a Bludger whizzing towards him, and he knocked it away with his bat. Below him, Riley heard Draco shouting at Harry.

"Alright there, Scarhead?" he taunted.

Harry merely glared at him, and both he and Riley caught sight of a Bludger flying towards the former. Riley dove forward to knock the Bludger away, but it had already swerved away from Harry after narrowly missing him. Oliver, who was floating nearby a goalpost watched as it swerved out of sight for a moment, then looked back at Harry.

"Watch yourself, Harry!" he called.

Riley squinted a little and noticed that the bludger that almost hit Harry was coming back. And Oliver was in it's line of fire. He flew towards his teammate, with his bat at the ready, just as Harry yelled for Oliver to watch out. Before the Bludger could hit the Keeper, Riley had struck it to the side with a second to spare.

"Out of the park!" he exclaimed.

To his and Oliver's surprise though, the Bludger changed trajectory, and zoomed towards Harry. Harry dodged the assault, and the Bludger raced after him.

"What gives?!" asked Riley. "I thought you guys said Bludgers didn't target just one person!"

"We'll find out after the game!" Oliver told him. "Keep it away from Harry!"

Riley saluted him, and started speeding after the Bludger on his broom. He had been so focused on trying to stop the Bludger, that he almost crashed into the wall, and pulled up before crashing.

"Next time Fred and George decide to teach me anything, they need to give me a crash course on rogue bludgers!" the Gryffindor Beater barked, angrily.

He sped up a little more on his broom and finally managed to catch up enough to intercept and knock the Bludger away from Harry.

"Training for the ballet, you two?" asked Draco.

He floated nearby them, on the verge of laughter. Harry and Riley didn't focus on his taunting though, because behind his head was the Golden Snitch. Behind them, the rogue Bludger was speeding towards Harry once again, and Riley knocked it away, protecting his teammate. Harry took off after the Snitch, with Draco following behind him, leaving Riley to deal with the Bludger the best he could. Riley chased after the Bludger behind the two Seekers, trying to keep it from hitting Harry. Riley managed to knock it away from the two boys for a moment. He watched as Harry and Draco disappeared outside of the rings underground, and caught sight of the rogue Bludger rocketing after them again.

"Oh, come on!" Riley shouted, annoyed.

He flew over the rafters, watching the two Seekers, and keeping an eye on the Bludger. Draco's broom got caught on a beam and tumbled into the air back into the field, and bounced around a few times, ending his tumble in a very painful way. Draco landed on his groin and fell on his back, gasping in pain. Riley resumed focus on keeping the bludger out of Harry's way so that he could score, and gave chase. He was too late to stop it from breaking his friend's arm, but knocked it further away so Harry could grab the Snitch with his good hand. Harry fell off his broom to the ground, tightly gripping the Snitch in his hand, as Lee announced Gryffindor's victory, but the war was not over yet. The Bludger was still taking chase after him, stubbornly refusing to give up it's assault as it attempted to strike the ground where Harry's head was, but missed as it dodged out of the way. Riley landed his broom beside Harry, and gripped his bat tightly.

"Stay back!" he threatened, furiously. "I mean it!"

The Bludger tried to strike the ground again, and Riley knocked it away.

"What is your problem?!" he screamed at it. "The match is over!"

The Bludger went after Harry again, but did not make it as it suddenly shattered to pieces. Hermione, who had her wand pointed at where the ball was, raced toward her friends with Ron, George, Hagrid, and the rest of the Gryffindor team after them. Tony landed his broom beside Riley, and helped Harry into a sitting position.

"Nice catch, boyo." he complimented.

"Thanks." said Harry. "You were great out there."

He looked at Hermione and the rest of his friends as they hurried to his side.

"Thank you." he said.

"Are you okay?" asked Hermione.

"No. I think my arm is broken."

Riley moved to help Harry to his feet, but felt someone shoving him aside. He sat that Prof. Lockhart was kneeling down on the student's opposite side.

"Not to worry, Harry." he reassured the Seeker. "I will fix that arm of yours straightaway."

Harry looked up at him in horror.

"No. Not you." he groaned.

"Boy doesn't know what he's saying." Prof. Lockhart said, looking around at the audience.

"I'm pretty sure he does!" Tony exclaimed, glaring at his professor. "He needs the Hospital Wing! Last spell I've seen you cast didn't help a bit! I'm taking my friend to the Hospital Wing so he can get the proper treatment!"

"Tony, back off." Hermione scolded him.

Prof. Lockhart smiled at her in appreciation, and pulled back the sleeve to Harry's broken arm.

"This won't hurt a bit." he reassured his student.

Ron, Hagrid, Riley, and Tony looked at one another, worried more than ever, as the DADA teacher took out his wand.

" _Brackium Emendo_!" Prof. Lockhart called.

The tip of his wand lit up with a bright white light, then everyone's gaze fell on Harry's arm again. Strange enough, Harry's arm appeared limp and fleshy. Prof. Lockhart picked it up, and everyone watched as the arm flopped around like a limp fish.

"Yes, well, that can sometimes happen." he stammered, nervously. "Um, but the point is..."

He paused to bend Harry's arm back.

"...you can no longer feel any pain, and, very clearly, the bones are not broken." he finished.

"'Broken'?!" Hagrid barked, outraged. "There's no bones left!"

Harry watched as his arm flopped forward once again.

"Much more flexible though." Prof. Lockhart pointed out.

Many of the students and teachers were far from amused. Tony looked as if he wanted to kill Lockhart, and from how Ron looked, he would join him. Riley, on the other hand, appeared calm.

"Hermione, what's the punishment for smacking a teacher silly with a broomstick?" he asked, quietly.

Hermione didn't think much of where he was going with this.

"Probably expulsion." she answered.

"I'll take it." Riley declared, suddenly.

Hermione, Ron, and Tony watched as Riley started marching toward Prof. Lockhart with his broom, only to have it taken away by Hagrid. Hagrid held the broom up out of reach, looking down at the boy.

"No, you don't." said the half-giant. "It's not worth it."

* * *

Several minutes later, in the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey received word as to what happened to Harry, and went to get a remedy to help him. When she returned, the nurse ordered a groaning Draco to vacate the Wing saying he was just fine, and pushed past the crowd of Gryffindors surrounding Harry's bed.

"Should have been brought straight to me." Madam Pomfrey complained, as she reached Harry's bedside. "I can mend bones in a heartbeat, but growing them back,..."

"You will be able to, won't you?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, I'll be able to, certainly. But it'll be painful."

The nurse of the infirmary poured some liquid into a glass cup from a bottle.

"You're in for a rough night, Potter." she said. "Regrowing bones is a nasty business."

Harry took the glass from her, and took a sip. He spat it back out in less than a second, spraying the contents all over his friends. Tony had taken the worst of it though. He groaned in disgust, and reached up to slowly wipe the spittle off of his face.

"What do you expect, pumpkin juice?!" asked Madam Pomfrey.

Harry grimaced, shaking his head, and saw that Tony was glaring at him.

"Sorry." the former apologized.

* * *

That evening, Riley sat in the Gryffindor common room, finishing up his homework, when he saw Ginny walking down the stairs in her pajamas. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Evening, Ginny." he greeted.

Ginny ignored him, and headed for the exit.

"Okay then." Riley muttered, shrugging.

He went back to his homework, and heard more footsteps coming down. Looking up, he saw that it was Colin, who was dressed in his school clothes still. He held his camera in his hands.

"Colin, it's the middle of the night." said Riley.

"I just thought I'd visit the hospital wing and see how Harry is doing." Colin told him.

"He's resting, Colin. We'll see him in the morning."

"Can I at least go and take a look around the school?"

Riley was about to tell him "no", but he remembered that he and his friends used to sneak around where he didn't belong either.

"Just don't let Filch or the professors catch you." he told him. "And stay away from the dungeons. That's Slytherin territory, they're not all as nice as Tony is."

Colin nodded and took off out the exit. Riley waited for him to leave, then faced forward again.

"Must be a First Year thing after all." he muttered to himself.

* * *

The following morning, Riley was sent to retrieve Harry, while Ron and Hermione went on ahead to the girls' bathroom to work on the Polyjuice Potion. Along the way, he met up with Tony, who accompanied him to get Harry.

"You really think his arm might be all fixed up now?" asked Riley.

"I hope so." replied Tony. "The way his arm was after Lockhart 'fixed' it, made me want to hurl."

He watched as his best friend stifled a yawn, and looked at him.

"Late night?" he asked.

"Ginny and Colin left the Tower last night." the Gryffindor boy replied. "I wanted to make sure they got back alright. Crashed some time after Ginny came back."

"Colin didn't come back?"

"Don't know."

Tony stared ahead as they walked, concerned. The two arrived at the Hospital Wing at last, and they saw Harry standing at someone's bedside.

"Feeling alright now, Harry?" asked Tony.

Harry turned to face them, and revealed to his friends who was laying on the bed. It was Colin, and he was frozen stiff in a position that looked like he was taking a picture. Riley and Tony rushed to his side, horrified by the sight.

"What happened?!" demanded Riley.

"According to Prof. Dumbledore, he's been Petrified." responded Harry.

"Then what Malfoy said before,..."

Tony felt his hands clench into fists, and a chill went up and down his spine. Muggleborns really were being targeted then. Harry waited until they had joined up with Hermione and Ron to explain what he overheard in the Hospital Wing last night.

"'Again'?" repeated Hermione. "You mean the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?"

"Of course." said Ron. "Don't you see? Lucius Malfoy must have opened it when he was at school here, and now he's taught Draco how to do it."

"I don't know about that. I've been keeping a good eye on the little snot. Snores like a freight train."

"...Does he really?"

Hermione cleared her throat loudly to get their attention.

"We'll have to wait for the Polyjuice Potion to know for sure, boys." she told them. "It's nice to have an inside man helping us."

Then it just occurred to the boys what they were doing as they watched Hermione continue working on the Polyjuice Potion.

"Enlighten me. Why are we brewing this potion in broad daylight in the middle of a girl's lavatory?" asked Ron. "Don't you think we'll get caught?"

"As long as we don't smoke, we'll be fine." Riley responded, smiling wryly.

Hermione chuckled softly, as she reached for another ingredient for the potion.

"No. No one ever comes in here." she answered.

"Why?" asked Ron.

"Moaning Myrtle."

"Who?"

Just then, a semi-transparent girl around their age appeared behind Ron from inside a stall. She was dressed in Hogwarts robes, and had dark hair in two pigtails, and wore a pair of round glasses. All but Ron had spotted her, and appeared to look nervous.

"Moaning Myrtle." Hermione repeated, looking at the ghost girl.

"Who's Moaning Myrtle?" asked Ron.

"I'm Moaning Myrtle!" the ghost wailed, glaring at him.

Ron jumped a little, surprised, while Tony waved nervously at her.

"Hello." he greeted.

Moaning Myrtle ignored him, and flew over them into the air.

"I wouldn't expect you to know me." she spat, facing them. "Who would ever talk about ugly, miserable, moping Moaning Myrtle?"

The five students watched as she flew back down, sobbing, and sailed into the stall she came out of, then dove into the toilet, making a splash as she exited.

"I just said 'hello'." said Tony.

"I wasn't even being mean." said Riley.

"She's a little sensitive." explained Hermione.

"A _little_?!"

* * *

Expect a little more Lockhart-bashing in the next chapter than you saw in the movie.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	9. Dueling Club

Chapter Nine: Dueling Club

Several days later, the students were all gathered into the Great Hall where Prof. Lockhart had organized a Dueling Club. The students stood on opposite sides of the long table that stretched out from one end of the hall to the other near the door. At each end of the table were small stairs with a few steps, and on the table was a blue tablecloth with moon and wand patterns on it. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tony, and Riley stood on one side together, waiting for the lesson to begin. Then Prof. Lockhart emerged from the left hand side to step onto the table. He was dressed in a white shirt that looked like a fencing uniform, and green pants, with a green cape-like cloak hanging on his left shoulder.

"Gather 'round! Gather 'round." he called. "Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me?"

The students quieted down so he could continue.

"In light of the dark events of recent weeks, Prof. Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Dueling Club to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions." explained Prof. Lockhart. "For full details, see my published works."

"Just get on with it." Tony muttered through his teeth. "We don't have all day to listen to you bragging."

Hermione, without facing him, elbowed him sharply in the ribs. Tony gave a sharp grunt of pain, and nursed his injured rib cage, shooting his friend a one-eyed glare, grumbling under his breath. Harry, Ron, and Riley gave the Slytherin a sympathetic glance. Prof. Lockhart paused in his speech to take off his cloak, and throw it into the audience. He threw it towards the Chasers of Gryffindor, with Angelina Johnson being the winner of the prize, causing some of the students to groan in disgust.

"I need to throw up." Riley grunted, annoyed.

"You and me both." agreed Ron.

Nearby them, a taller boy turned to face Harry.

"That Lockhart's something, isn't he?" he asked. "Awfully brave chap."

He paused to shake Harry's hand.

"Justin Finch-Fletchley. Hufflepuff." he greeted.

"Oh, nice to meet you." said Harry. "I'm-"

"I know who you are. We all do, even us Muggleborns."

Their attention was grabbed by Prof. Lockhart, who had just announced his assistant in the tutorial duel. To everyone's surprise, it was Prof. Snape. He walked onto the stage, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked as if he didn't want to be there right now, and many of the students couldn't blame him.

"He has sportingly agreed to help with a short demonstration." announced Prof. Lockhart. "Now I don't want any of you youngsters to worry, you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him. Never fear."

"But will we have our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when he's through with you?" Tony asked loudly.

Several students in the audience chuckled at his joke, while Prof. Lockhart's smile faded quickly. Hermione was the only one of the group of friends who was not amused one bit.

"Supporting our Head of House, I see?" he asked. "Alright, you've left me with no choice. I'll have to up my game a little."

As he and Prof. Snape walked towards each other, their wands out, Hermione nudged Tony painfully in the ribs again.

"Stop it!" she hissed.

"No!" Tony whispered back.

Prof. Lockhart and Prof. Snape stood a couple of feet away from each other, held up their wands in front of their faces, then lowered them again. They bowed slightly, and turned away to put some distance between the two. Upon turning around again, they stood with their wands at the ready. Prof. Lockhart counted to three slowly, then Prof. Snape made the first move.

" _Expelliarmus_!" he shouted.

A white blast of magic shot out from the tip of his wand, knocking Prof. Lockhart into the air, making him drop his own wand, and fell on his back a couple of feet away.

"Do you think he's alright?" asked Hermione.

"Who cares?" retorted Ron.

Tony looked disappointed.

"Aw, looks like that's a 'yes' to my question." he groaned.

Meanwhile, Prof. Lockhart had gotten back up to his feet once again, and started walking back towards the center.

"An excellent idea to show them that, Prof. Snape," he commented. "But if you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you, it would have only been too easy."

"Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students to block unfriendly spells, professor." Prof. Snape reminded him.

For a moment there, Prof. Lockhart was at a loss for words. Prof. Snape merely smirked, knowing he had truly won this round. Unfortunately, Prof. Lockhart recovered quickly.

"An excellent suggestion, Prof. Snape." the former professor agreed. "Let's have a volunteer pair."

He looked around, then his eyes fell on Riley and Tony.

"Maybe these two young lads won't mind going first?" he offered. "Cross, Gabriel, come on up."

Tony and Riley looked at each other, and then shrugged. They climbed up onto the stage, and took out their wands. Tony stood where Prof. Snape was standing, and Riley took Prof. Lockhart's place.

"Wands at the ready." Prof. Lockhart called to the two students.

Riley and Tony held up their wands as the professors did, and smiled at each other.

"Give me your best shot, Superboy." grinned Tony.

"After you, Crazy Train." responded Riley.

The two lowered their wands again, bowed to each other, then walked back down towards their professors, stopping halfway to face each other.

"One,...two,..." Prof. Lockhart counted, as the students held their breath. "...three."

Tony smirked as he made the opening move.

" _Aguamenti_!" he cried.

A jet of water shot out from the tip of his wand toward Riley. Riley decided to dodge, and ducked down onto the table, the water missing him. However, Prof. Lockhart was not so lucky. The water hit him head on, and knocked him off of the table on his back. The students broke out into laughter again, and Riley gave a snort of laughter himself. Tony merely cringed, not intended to hit one of his professors, even if he was a hog in more ways than one. He slowly turned to face his Head of House, giving a weak smile and chuckle of embarrassment. Surprisingly, Prof. Snape merely smirked in pride at his student. Beside the two students, Harry and Ron grinned up at their friend, while Hermione glared at Tony, disapprovingly. Riley waited for Prof. Lockhart to get back up on his feet before making his move.

" _Carpe Retractum_!" he shouted.

He thrusted his wand towards Tony, and jerked it forward. Tony felt a jerking motion at his feet, and suddenly lost his footing and fell forward onto his face with a grunt. He pushed himself up on all fours, shook off the pain, and slowly rose back up to his feet.

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be." muttered Tony. "Fine."

He made to raise his wand towards his friend, but Prof. Lockhart rushed forward to intervene.

"No, no, no, you two." he interrupted. "You're done for the day. You were supposed to disarm your opponents. Not knock them over and over again. Let's have another volunteer pair."

Several members of the audience groaned while Riley and Tony stepped back down towards their friends in the crowd. As Riley and Tony pocketed their wands again, Prof. Lockhart looked towards where they were standing. His eyes fell upon Harry and Ron, and he smiled.

"Uh, Potter. Weasley. How about you?" he asked.

Harry and Ron went to get up onto the stage, but then Prof. Snape spoke out.

"Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest spells." he reminded his colleague. "We'll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox."

Ron stayed back by his friends, while Harry took the stage.

"Might I suggest someone from my own House?" asked Prof. Snape. "Malfoy, perhaps?"

He turned and gestured to said student to get up there. Smirking with glee, Draco hopped up onto the stage, and walked towards Harry, who was walking forward to the center of the ring. The two stood at the center, and were ordered to have their wands at the ready.

"Scared, Potter?" asked Draco.

"You wish." Harry answered, calmly.

The two of them lowered their wands again, and without bowing to each other, they separated as the pairs before them had.

"On the count of three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent." Prof. Lockhart ordered the two students. " _Only_ to disarm. We don't want any accidents here."

He glanced at Tony and Riley as he said the last part. The pair of friends looked at opposite sides away from each other, whistling innocently, while their DADA professor looked back at the students on stage.

"One,...two,..." he spoke, counting again.

Draco didn't wait for him to finish.

" _Everte Statum!_ " he shouted, thrusting out his wand.

Harry was knocked off his feet by a blast of white light, and went flying into the air. After a few aerial somersaults, he landed on the end of the table by Prof. Lockhart. Several people laughed at the preemptive strike, while the rest looked on in concern.

"Shake it off, Harry." muttered Tony. "You've got this."

Harry rose back onto his feet, and pointed his wand at Draco.

" _Rictusempra!_ " he called.

Now it was Draco's turn to get hit by a jet of white light. He flew into the air, doing a sideways barrel roll, and landed in a sitting position, facing his Head of House. Now it was his turn to get laughed at. Prof. Snape reached down and yanked him up to his feet once again, and pushed him forward. The two students faced each other once again, waiting to make the next move.

"I said to _disarm_ only!" Prof. Lockhart reminded them.

" _Serpensortia!_ " Draco yelled, ignoring him.

The tip of his wand lit up with a bright light, and it ejected a snake from it. The snake slithered towards Harry, hissing angrily. Harry lowered his wand and stepped back, cautiously.

"Riley, got any tips for me?" he asked, looking beside him.

"Just back away from it and leave it alone." answered Riley. "You don't want to go near snakes when they're angry like that."

"Is that all?!" asked Ron. "Is that all the advice you have?!"

"Just because my mother is a veterinarian, Ron, does not mean I'm a complete genius on all animals in existence!"

Prof. Snape moved forward to get rid of the snake, and pushed Draco away from him.

"Don't worry, Potter." he announced. "I'll get rid of it for you."

"Allow me, Prof. Snape!" Prof. Lockhart insisted.

He pointed his wand at the snake, and cast the incantation before anyone could stop him.

" _Alarte Ascendare!_ " the DADA teacher called.

The snake suddenly flew into the air, still hissing, and landed on the ground again. Having had enough, Tony glared at Prof. Lockhart.

"Stop helping!" he shouted. "Stop helping!"

Meanwhile, the snake turned it's head and caught sight of Justin, who was standing beside Ron, Riley, Tony, and Hermione.

"Okay, everyone, get back!" shouted Riley. "Give it some distance!"

The students around him did as he said, but Justin stood there, frozen in shock. Harry stepped forward, and opened his mouth. When he spoke, it sounded like he was hissing like a snake would. The other students around him stared at him with mixed reactions, but Riley and Tony merely glanced at him, confused.

"What's he doing?" asked Riley.

"Maybe he's a snake whisperer." replied Tony.

"Tony,-"

"I didn't mean that as a joke. I'm seriously hoping he is."

Harry had spoken to the snake for a third time before Prof. Snape took care of the situation.

" _Vipera Evanesca._ " he spoke.

The potions master fired a jet of light at the snake, hitting it in the middle. The middle started disintegrating, and moved toward either end of the snake, destroying it. To Harry, Riley, and Tony's surprise, the students still stared at him. Justin himself looked alarmed and troubled.

"What are you playing at?!" he demanded.

Harry stared at him, confused, then looked at either of his professors, who were staring at him like the students were. The Dueling Club was cancelled for the rest of the day, and Harry was dragged back to Gryffindor Tower by Ron and Hermione, while the rest of the students departed. Only Riley and Tony remained behind.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Tony.

"Was it the snake or Lockhart's spell?" Riley wondered aloud.

"It's called 'Parseltongue'." Prof. Snape answered.

He walked towards the two students, who looked back at him even more confused than ever.

"'Parseltongue'?" repeated Tony. "What is that?"

"Snake language." Prof. Snape explained, calmly. "How Potter picked up that ability, I do not know. It is a very rare ability, people usually having this power are descendants of Salazar Slytherin himself."

"The founder of the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Riley.

Tony ran a hand through his hair, feeling stressed. Harry had a similar gift that the founder of Slytherin House had, but he was not the Heir of Slytherin. He and the others knew that. Being capable of talking to snakes couldn't have been a factor in Petrifying Colin and Mrs. Norris,...could it? Then Tony remembered a few weeks ago, when Harry said he had been hearing voices.

"Prof. Snape, when someone who speaks Parseltongues talk to snakes, what language are they hearing from them?" he asked. "Is it like their native language?"

"I suppose." replied Prof. Snape. "Why do you ask?"

Riley caught Tony glancing at him. He knew what they had to do. The two boys looked back at the professor, and took a deep breath.

"They're going to kill me for telling you this, but this might be important." sighed Tony. "When we were looking for Harry that other night, when Mrs. Norris was attacked, Harry said he had been hearing voices. We found him putting his ear to the wall, but we heard nothing. That's how we ended up finding Mrs. Norris."

Prof. Snape stared at the two for a moment, then started to walk down the hall at a fast pace. Tony looked at his best friend, uneasily.

"You think I did the right thing?" he asked.

Riley just shrugged.

"That depends." he replied. "What were you thinking?"

"I think the monster in that Chamber of Secrets is a snake after all." announced Tony.

"We should tell Harry."

"No. We need to find a way to prove his innocence without risking anyone's lives. We'll follow Hermione's plan for now. In the meantime, keep a close eye on Harry. I'll keep mine on Malfoy."

"Right."

* * *

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	10. The Body Count Rises

Chapter Ten: The Body Count Rises

The following evening, during study hall, Harry was unable to concentrate on his work. He felt the stares of his classmates on him since yesterday's incident. He was now suspected of being the Heir of Slytherin because he was what they called a "Parselmouth". Not even his friends could cheer him up right now. Having had enough of the piercing stares from his classmates, Harry decided to take his leave, and started packing up his stuff.

"I'll see you back in the common room." he whispered to his Housemates.

Hermione, Ron, Riley, and Tony watched as their friend took off out of the room. Tony cast Riley a look, and the latter nodded, quickly packing up his stuff to take chase. Hermione looked back at Tony, confused.

"What are you two up to now?" she asked.

"We're trying to prove Harry's innocent." replied Tony. "Riley's going to shadow him when he tries to go off alone. It's all I can come up with right now."

"Good idea."

Riley discreetly followed Harry as much as he could down the hallway, ducking against the wall out of sight if Harry should hear his footsteps approaching. However, he was too slow to dodge out of sight again when Harry suddenly turned around to see who was following him.

"Riley?" he called. "What are you doing here?"

"Tony thought that one of us should stay close to you so if there's another attack, we can say you didn't do it." said Riley. "We're sorry. We just wanted to help."

"It's alright. Thanks."

The two Gryffindors started to head up the stairs when they saw Hagrid coming downstairs, with a dead rooster in his hand.

"Hello, Harry, Riley." he greeted.

Riley nodded in acknowledgement, while Harry remained quiet, which caused Hagrid to appear concerned.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Hagrid, what are you doing here?" asked Harry.

"And what's with the dead rooster?" asked Riley.

"Second one killed this term." answered Hagrid. "And I reckon it's either a fox or a blood-sucking bugbear. So I'll just be up at Dumbledore's and get permission to put a little charm around the hen coop."

Riley looked between the limp rooster corpse and Harry, and raised an eyebrow.

"This year just keeps getting stranger and stranger." he stated.

"Tell me about it." nodded Harry.

Hagrid looked closely at the latter, suspicious.

"You sure you're alright?" he asked. "You look awful hot and bothered."

"It's nothing." replied Harry. "Look, I...I better get going. I've got a lot of studying to do."

He quickly moved up the stairs, casting a lasting glance back at Hagrid, before continuing back up. Hagrid looked down at Riley, who hung back for a moment.

"What's eating him, Riley?" he asked.

"People think Harry's the Heir of Slytherin because he's a Parselmouth." explained Riley.

"Codswallop. If Harry was behind that boy and Filch's cat being Petrified, I'll expect to see Filch being nice to these kids."

Riley nodded, and excused himself to follow after Harry. He found his friend walking down the hall, standing against the concrete wall on the side, and hurried after him. Riley knew exactly why Harry was pressing an ear against the wall, and it gave him that awful feeling in the pit of his stomach again.

"The voices." he whispered to his friend. "What are they saying?"

Harry just shushed him, and continued to walk down the hall, straining his ears. He stopped, looking around for a moment, apparently having lost whoever was talking.

"They're gone." he said.

"What did they say?" asked Riley.

"'They all must die'. I think it's going to attack again."

The Gryffindors raced down the hallway, and looked for any sign of the monster. When they turned a corner, they saw the ghost of Sir Nicholas, A.K.A. "Nearly Headless Nick", floating in the middle of the hall. He was frozen stiff with his head hanging off of the edge.

"We're too late." whispered Riley.

He saw Harry staring ahead at something, and followed his gaze. To their horror, Justin Finch-Fletchley laid on the ground nearby the ghost. He was also Petrified. Harry knelt down onto the ground beside Justin, while Riley stood beside him. Unknown to them, a figure stood right behind them.

"Caught in the act." Filch's voice declared.

Startled, Harry and Riley turned around to face him. Filch stood behind the two students, wearing a malicious smile.

"Now, hold on there, Filch,..." Riley started.

Filch wouldn't hear of it.

"I'll have you out this time, Potter." he announced. "Mark my words."

He left Harry and Riley standing there, intending to get a professor for "help", while they tried to plead Harry's innocence. Riley stopped talking and pushed his hair back over his head, sighing heavily.

"Brilliant." he groaned. "And knowing your luck, he'll get Professor Mishap."

Harry wasn't listening. His attention was on the line of spiders heading for the window, across from where he was facing.

"Riley." he called.

Riley turned to face him, and saw what he was looking at.

"Talk about deja vu." he whispered.

Suddenly, the two heard footsteps approaching, and turned to see Filch had returned. This time with Prof. McGonagall. Prof. McGonagall looked between the Petrified ghost and student, then at Harry and Riley.

"Professor,.." Harry started, nervously. "I swear I didn't..."

"We walked down the hall and saw them like this." Riley defended his friend. "I was walking with him back to the common room when we saw-"

"This is out of my hands, boys." Prof. McGonagall told them. "I'll escort you to Prof. Dumbledore, Potter, then I will take Mr. Cross back to the dormitory."

Harry and Riley marched behind their teacher to the headmaster's office. To their surprise, they had stopped at a statue of an eagle inside of tiny room.

"Prof. Dumbledore will be waiting for you." said Prof. McGonagall.

Harry hesitantly stepped inside the room in front of the eagle, and looked at Riley who smiled at him, also nervous.

"Sherbet Lemon." Prof. McGonagall spoke, waving her hands at the statue.

To Riley and Harry's surprise, the statue started to spin clockwise and go up. A staircase formed as it did so, and Harry started climbing the steps quickly. Once he was out of sight, Prof. McGonagall turned to face the remaining student beside her.

"Come along, Cross." she told him.

"Professor, Harry's not going to be expelled, is he?" asked Riley. "I was watching him after we left study hall."

"That will be up to Prof. Dumbledore."

* * *

Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Gryffindor students had returned a little while after Riley did, and Riley explained the whole situation to Ron and Hermione. Now the three of them were waiting in the common room for Harry to return. Riley paced back and forth in front of the fire, while Ron and Hermione sat on the couch, with the latter tutoring the former. Finally having had enough, Hermione switched focus back to Riley, her limit reached.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, Riley," she exclaimed, exasperated. "Sit down and read a comic book already!"

"There's no time for reading silly comic books, Hermione." Riley said, looking at her. "Stupid Filch! I was watching Harry the whole time! He didn't do anything!"

"Relax." Ron told him. "Dumbledore's more reasonable and willing to listen to people than Filch is."

At that moment, the portrait swung open and Harry finally appeared. He saw Riley, Ron, and Hermione staring at him, and walked over to join them.

"I suppose Riley's told you what happened?" he asked.

"That Justin and Nick have been Petrified, and Filch tried to get you expelled." Hermione listed, casually.

"If Filch wasn't a Squib, I'd believe he was the Heir of Slytherin." said Ron.

Riley looked at him, confused. So Hermione filled him in.

"Squibs are magic folk who possess no magic abilities like we all do." she explained.

Riley nodded, understanding now. Harry collapsed into a chair next to the sofa, and sighed heavily.

"I don't get it." he said. "How can this thing move around the castle without being seen except by those it Petrifies?"

"When we meet the Heir of Slytherin, we'll ask him that." said Hermione. It's only a couple of more weeks until the Polyjuice Potion is finished."

* * *

Riley stood in the forest, and watched as Fluffy charged back towards him and Hagrid, a long thin branch in the dog's center mouth's teeth. The branch dropped to the ground with a loud thud, and Fluffy barked once, excitedly.

"Good boy, Fluffy! Good boy!" Hagrid called up to the tri-headed canine. "Alright, then, throw it." he added, looking at Riley again.

Riley pointed his wand at the branch, and muttered the incantation that he had learned in Charms class last year.

"Wingardium Leviosa." he spoke.

The branch began to levitate into the air, with Fluffy watching it patiently. Once it was high enough, Riley waved his wand again.

"Depulso!" he shouted.

The branch soared through the air with Fluffy taking chase after it, making loud, rumbling footsteps along the way.

"Y'know, this is good practice." said Riley. "I feel some muscle growing on this arm."

"But you'll probably be tuckered out before Fluffy even breaks a sweat." Hagrid pointed out.

Riley couldn't argue with him there. He felt sweat starting to soak his shirt, and his wand arm was starting to tire. Playing with a giant puppy wasn't easy, but then again, nothing at Hogwarts had been easy all year long. Suddenly Hagrid turned around, and patted Riley on the shoulder.

"Who is that?" he asked.

Riley turned to see where he was looking, and saw Luna walking down the trail towards them. She wore a blue sweater and a pair of black pants, and a smile on her face.

"Oh, that's Luna, she's a friend of mine." answered Riley.

Hagrid nodded, knowingly, and gave a soft chuckle.

"Luna, huh?" he asked, slyly. "Well, I think I'll leave the two of you alone."  
Riley looked up at him, confused, as Hagrid walked away. Somehow, he had the distinct feeling Hermione's joke-turned-rumor had spread to him as well. He made a note to get Hermione for this. Luna made her way over to Riley, and watched as Hagrid walked away.

"How have you been?" she asked.

"Doing good." replied Riley. "And you?"

"I'm doing very well."

Riley then noticed that Luna was barefooted, and looked up at her, curiously.

"I'm not trying to be rude, but where are your shoes?" he asked.

"Disappeared." replied Luna. "I think the Nargles took them."

"But why? You didn't do anything wrong."

"I told you, they're just mischievous."

Riley nodded, but on the inside, he was still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing. He had never seen or heard of a Nargle before, but from what his dad taught him, just because you've never seen something, didn't mean that it wasn't there. Meanwhile, Fluffy had bounded back towards them with the branch in his middle head's jaws. Surprisingly, Luna was not exactly startled or frightened by the sudden appearance of the three-headed dog.

"Good boy, Fluffy!" called Riley.

"Is this your dog?" asked Luna.

"No, he's Hagrid's. Since Fluffy likes me so much, I get to come out and play fetch with him every now and then. So long as my school work is finished of course."

"He seems very friendly."

"Hagrid did a good job of caring for him. My mom's a veterinarian, she taught me a lot about how to tell if an animal's healthy or sick, how well someone takes care of the animal. See how shiny his coat is? And his eyes are clear, too."

Luna looked at him, impressed at how much her friend knew about animals. At the same time, she looked a little sad. Riley took notice of this, and turned to face her.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's nothing. I was thinking about my own mother." Luna replied, honestly.

It hit Riley then what she meant, and he felt a little guilty.

"I'm sorry." he started, quickly. "I didn't know-"

"It's alright." Luna reassured him. "Does it bother you or your friends? Being Muggleborns?"

"No. Malfoy can call us 'Mudbloods' all he wants, but Tony, Hermione, and I, we're here to stay. It's not exactly a matter of pride, but it's more of a 'we came all this way, so we're not gonna give up after all we went through' thing."

Riley's attention was grabbed when Fluffy barked at him. He was wanting to have another go at the branch, so Riley waved his wand and threw it into the air again. Fluffy barked once again and chased after it.

"You're not afraid of it." observed Luna.

"I was a little at first, but I remembered a trick that my mom taught me when I was real little." said Riley. "If you want a dog to trust you, you must hold out your hand for it to smell, but don't shove it into their face or raise it over their heads. Dogs don't like that. When the dog sniffs your hand, they will take that as a sort of sign that they can trust you, and perhaps they will even lick it."

"And so you did that?"

"Yeah, and I was surprised that Fluffy started being nice afterwards. I guess the dogs in the Muggle world and the dogs in the magical world are kinda the same after all. It's the same with people. No matter where you come from, whether you have magic blood or Muggle blood, you're still the same species as them."

"That's a wonderful perspective on it. If only more people thought like that, there wouldn't be as much hate in our worlds."

* * *

Sorry about the late update, guys. I've been working for about seven weeks at a daycare, and I barely have time to write anymore with the chores and random added shifts and me having to fix the computer I gave my cousin. I would've updated sooner, but I needed to add another scene with Luna in this fanfic, and I wanted Fluffy to make an appearance again. Thank you guys for the patience.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	11. Into the Snake's Den

Chapter Eleven: Into the Snake's Den

Winter break had come at last, and many of the students were leaving Hogwarts for their own safety. Among those who were staying were Harry, Hermione, Tony, Riley, and the Weasley siblings. Hermione, Riley, and Tony had written to their parents ahead of time, and were given permission to stay at the school for the holidays. Unfortunately for Harry, even as the students were leaving, they still didn't let up on him. Even Fred and George picked on Harry about being the Heir of Slytherin.

"Hey, look, everyone!" Fred called out, looking at Harry. "It's the Heir of Slytherin!"

"Be careful! He's a seriously evil wizard!" George added, jokingly.

Tony shook his head at the two as they walked away, laughing.

"And my dad thinks I'm bad." he said.

Ron looked over at Harry and saw that his brothers were doing more harm than good with their joking.

"Come on, Harry, Fred and George are just having a laugh." he said.

"They're the only ones." Harry told him, irritated.

"Okay, so half the school thinks you're opening the Chamber of Secrets every night, who cares?"

"Maybe they're right!"

Harry marched off back into the school, leaving his friends to stand there behind him for a moment in the freezing winter cold before hurrying after him.

"Harry." Hermione called, trying to get her friend's attention. "Harry! Oh, come on!"

Harry managed to climb up the stairs partially before stopping to turn back to his friends.

"Look, I didn't know I could speak Parseltongue!" he snapped. "What else don't I know about myself?!"

None of the four friends before him answered. Harry then took a breath and calmed down.

"Look, maybe you can do something, even something horrible, and not know you did it." he wondered aloud.

"You don't believe that, Harry." Hermione said, shaking her head. "I know you don't. And if it makes you feel any better, according to Tony, Malfoy is staying for the holidays, too."

Ron looked at her, confused.

"Why would that make anyone feel any better?" he asked, slowly.

"Use your head, buddy." Tony told him.

"Because in a few days, the Polyjuice Potion will be ready." Hermione answered, looking between her friends. "In a few days, we may truly know who the Heir of Slytherin is."

This bit of news cheered Harry up considerably.

* * *

On Christmas Eve evening, Hermione had gathered the team together to go over the plan. Tony hurried over to the table that Harry, Ron, and Riley were sitting at.

"I got the robes." he whispered, taking a seat. "And I've filled in a few of my friends in Slytherin House what was going on."

"Is that a good idea?" asked Ron.

"We're not the only people who hate Malfoy and his little posse, Ron."

Harry noticed that the Slytherin boy was looking very cheery about all this.

"Tony, you're starting to scare me with your eagerness." he said.

"Sorry, it's just...I've been looking forward to this for ages." Tony told his friends. "I always wanted you guys to come by my dorm to hang out."

"Hang on. I know we'll never be welcomed into the Slytherin dorm, but do you think if McGonagall and Dumbledore give us permission, we could have Tony over sometime?" asked Riley.

"We'll find out sometime." Ron answered, going back to his meal.

Just then, Hermione finally hurried over to the four of them.

"Everything's set." she whispered. "We just need a bit of who you're changing into."

"Crabbe and Goyle." Harry nodded, understanding what she meant.

"We also need to make sure that the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating Malfoy."

"How?" asked Ron.

"I've got it all worked out."

Hermione reached into her pocket and took out two cupcakes.

"I filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught." she explained. "Simple, but powerful. Now, once they're asleep, hide them in the broomstick cupboard, and pull out a few of their hairs. I trust Tony already has a spare set of uniforms for you guys?"

Tony nodded, letting her know that he did his job.

"Good." said Hermione. "While you help us get into Slytherin's dormitory, Riley will make sure that Crabbe and Goyle stay out of sight."

"Whose hair are you ripping out then?" asked Ron.

"I've already got mine."

The female Gryffindor took out a small vial with a few noticeable hairs in it.

"Millicent Bulstrode." she announced. "Slytherin. I got this off of her robes."

Harry and Ron nodded at her, while Tony looked concerned.

"Uh, Hermione, are you sure that's her hair?" he asked.

"Positive." replied Hermione. "Why do you ask?"

"Millicent Bulstrode has a cat. Cats shed hair."

"I think I've got her hair though, Tony. Don't worry. Now, I'm going to check on the Polyjuice Potion."

Before leaving, Hermione reminded the four boys to make certain that Crabbe and Goyle find and eat the cakes. Harry, Ron, Riley, and Tony took the cakes and headed off out of the Great Hall to do the next part of their job. Ron put the cakes on the ground, all four deciding to use the Levitation Charm to have them floating in mid-air, while they stayed out of sight. Harry saw that Ron was about to cast the spell, and quickly stopped him.

"Ron, maybe I should do it." Harry offered.

Ron looked at his broken wand, and nodded.

"Yeah. Right." he agreed, half-heartedly.

Harry took out his wand, and pointed it at the cakes.

" _Wingardium Leviosa._ " he whispered.

The cakes started floating up into the air and just in time, too. Crabbe and Goyle were just leaving Great Hall, their arms filled up with cakes and sweets. They caught sight of the floating cakes and guffawed in glee.

"This is sad." Tony whispered, looking at his friends. "This is completely sad. I am embarrassed for them."

"He's right." Ron agreed, quietly. "I mean..."

He and the others watched as Crabbe and Goyle collapsed, the Sleeping Draught taking effect.

"...how thick could you get?" the youngest Weasley male finished.

He and Tony grabbed Crabbe, while Harry and Riley took Goyle, and the unconscious pair of Slytherin were dragged off down the hall into the broom cupboard. Inside were a clean pair of Slytherin robes that were the same size as Crabbe and Goyle's. Harry and Ron grabbed them up, and quickly plucked a few hairs from the two Slytherin students' heads, and followed Tony back to the girls' bathroom. Riley stayed behind and locked the door to the broom cupboard, ready to do his job.

* * *

Tony watched as Hermione filled up each cup with the Polyjuice Potion, grimacing in disgust. Harry and Ron exited their stalls, having finished dressing in their oversized student robes, and walked over to their friends.

"We'll have exactly one hour before we change back into ourselves." Hermione told her Housemates.

Once finished pouring the last of the potion into the cups, she started passing out a cup to Harry and Ron and instructed them to add in the hairs. Ron grimaced as he added in his hairs, and groaned.

"Essence of Crabbe." he muttered, disgusted.

"Cheers." said Hermione.

The three Gryffindors clinked their glasses together, and started to drink. Tony watched this with curiosity, and saw that Ron's face drained of color. To his surprise, Harry and Hermione looked the same.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." gasped Ron.

He dropped his glass, which shattered against the ground, and darted toward an empty stall.

"Ron?" Tony called after him, worried.

Hermione grimaced, agreeing with Ron, before dropping her glass and hurrying into a stall as well. Harry soon followed suit, but didn't have it in him to find a stall. Tony saw him doubling over toward a sink, and hurried to his side.

"Harry, are you okay?" he asked.

He watched as Harry's skin started to morph, and slowly looked up at the mirror. Harry's face started to change into Goyle's until it was like he was looking at an exact copy.

"Impressive." commented Tony.

He and Harry heard one of the stalls opening, and saw Ron leaving the stall. But he now looked exactly like Crabbe.

"Harry?" Ron's voice spoke.

"Ron." gasped Harry.

Tony looked between the two, surprised that they sounded the same. Harry had noticed the same thing, and told Ron that they needed to sound more like the people they were imitating.

"But where's Hermione?" asked Ron.

"I...I don't think I'm going." Hermione answered from inside the stall she was in. "You go on without me. Just follow after Tony."

"Hermione, are you okay?" asked Harry.

"Just go! You're wasting time!"

Tony lingered a little as Harry and Ron took off, and muttered to her.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you got cat hair." he guessed.

Hermione kicked at the door from inside the stall, surprising him, and making him fall on his back. Tony took the hint, and hurried after his friends. He led them down the corridors until they had stopped at a stone wall. Harry and Ron looked around, confused.

"Where's the portrait?" asked Harry.

"This is it." replied Tony. "Before we go in, if there are any Slytherin around that are tight with Malfoy, I'm going to rub the back of my neck. When I do, you guys need to act like Crabbe and Goyle, and bully me. And Harry, Goyle doesn't wear glasses."

Harry nodded, and quickly removed his glasses.

"Pure-blood." Tony spoke, looking at the stone wall before them.

To the Gryffindor pair's surprise, the wall in front of them adjusted so that a passageway was created. The three of them walked inside, and ended up in the Slytherin common room. Inside were a few green leather couches and chairs, some tables and lamps, and even a fireplace. A few Slytherin students were in the common room, but Tony had not signaled his friends to attack him. One Slytherin girl, a girl about their age with long braided black hair and green eyes, looked at them.

"So they've arrived at last." she spoke, smiling. "But where's 'Millicent'?"

"Couldn't make it." replied Tony. "Anyone else here, Jasmine?"

"Just us, Jesse, and Scott."

Tony turned to look at Harry and Ron, smiling.

"Guys, these are my friends in Slytherin House." he told them. "This is Jasmine Willows,..."

Jasmine waved at the two Gryffindors politely.

"...her brother, Scott,..." Tony continued, pointing at another Slytherin.

A boy with neatly combed brown hair and green eyes nodded at them.

"...and Jesse Reigns." Tony finished, gesturing to the last of the other Slytherin.

"Nice to meet you." Jesse greeted, waving at the trio.

Jesse was a boy with shaggy brown hair with blond streaks. He wore a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, and seemed to be staring in another direction.

"Is he...?" Harry started, looking at him.

"'Blind'?" Jesse asked, smiling. "Yes, he is, Potter. I'm pure-blood, too. But my folks and I don't see the point of supremacy. We believe in equality, and that and my little problem is why I'm not exactly a favorite of our House."

He paused to raise his arm at the side.

"The Willowses here are half-Muggles, like you, Potter." he explained. "One Muggle parent, one Pureblood. But the Muggle parent was a wizard."

"Have all your parents been in Slytherin?" asked Harry.

"My parents were in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, Jasmine and Scott's mother was in Hufflepuff, and their father was in Ravenclaw. It's not just where you come from that decides which House you belong to, it's the traits. You know, Gryffindors are brave and daring, Slytherins are cunning and real risk-takers, Hufflepuffs are dedicated to their family and will stand by each other through thick and thin, and Ravenclaws are intelligent and curious."

Harry nodded, understanding now. However, Ron slowly rounded on Tony.

"I thought you said there was another Muggleborn Slytherin." he commented.

"I kinda made that part up." Tony confessed, sheepishly.

Behind them, the passageway started to open once again, and Tony quickly backed away from the two Gryffindors to avoid suspicion. Just in time, too, because Draco was the one walking into the common room. He caught sight of Harry and Ron and glared at them.

"Crabbe! Goyle!" he called, angrily. "Where have you two been?!"

Harry and Ron turned to him, speechless.

"Pigging out in the Great Hall again?" asked Draco.

"You're surprised?" asked Tony.

"Watch your mouth, Mudblood!"

Ron nearly clocked him, but remembered that he wasn't Ron right now. For an hour, he had to be Crabbe. And Crabbe didn't defend Muggleborns. Draco, Ron, and Harry sat down at the couches, with Draco sitting on one by himself, facing who he thought were his two cronies.

"You'd never know the way the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave." said Draco. "They're an embarrassment to the wizarding world. All of them."

He noticed that "Crabbe"'s hand was starting to clench, and stared at him.

"What's wrong with you, Crabbe?" he asked.

Harry, Tony, Scott, and Jasmine all looked at Ron, who relaxed again.

"Must've been all that junk food he's been devouring." joked Jesse. "Prof. Snape always said that too much of something was a bad thing."

Ron took that as a hint, and nodded.

"Stomachache." he said.

Draco nodded, seemingly buying it, then looked away.

"You know, I'm surprised that the Daily Prophet hasn't done a report on all these attacks." he told them. "I suppose Dumbledore is trying to hush it all up. Father always said Dumbledore was the worst thing that ever happened to this place."

Harry couldn't help himself from speaking out.

"You're wrong!" he declared.

Behind Draco, the other Slytherin in the room shot Harry a look. Draco himself swung his legs off of the couch, and slowly got to his feet, glaring at "Goyle".

"What?" he asked. "Do you think there's someone here who's worse than Dumbledore? Well? Do you?"

Harry remained quiet for a moment, then came up with an answer.

"Harry Potter?" he tried.

The room went deadly quiet for a moment, then Draco nodded in agreement.

"Good one, Goyle. You're absolutely right." he agreed. "Saint Potter. And people actually think that he's the Heir of Slytherin?"

"But then you must have some idea who's behind it all." Harry wondered aloud.

"You know I don't, Goyle. I told you yesterday."

Draco started walking towards a table as he spoke, and picked up a small box.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" he asked.

He paused to shake up the box in his hand by his ear, and asked "Goyle" if it was his. Harry shook his head, and Draco pocketed it.

"But my father did say this: It's been fifty years since the Chamber was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it, only that they were expelled." he told Harry and Ron. "The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time."

Tony looked at Harry and Ron in horror for a moment, then looked at where the Willows siblings and Jesse were standing. They all had the same expressions on their faces as well.

"As for me,..." Draco continued, in a malicious voice. "I hope it's Granger."

Harry saw Ron leaping out of his seat to attack Draco, and quickly grabbed him. Draco heard them getting up and looked at them.

"What's the matter with you two?!" he asked. "You're acting very...odd."

"It's his...stomachache." replied Harry.

Ron nodded in agreement, and Draco ignored them to look at the present he had stolen, then he remembered that Tony was still in the room and looked at him.

"Who knows, Gabriel, it might be you instead of Granger that dies, too." he sneered. "A Mudblood in Slytherin, you should've been the first to be attacked."

"I may be a Muggleborn, Malfoy, but even Salazar Slytherin himself can't deny that I'm a better wizard than you'll ever be." Tony retorted, angrily.

Draco glared at him for a moment, then heard the sounds of footsteps rushing out of the room. Looking back at Ron and Harry, he saw that they were running out of the dormitory.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" he demanded.

"Maybe those two should go on a no-sweets diet." joked Jesse.

* * *

Riley stood in front of the stall that Hermione was in, and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Hermione, will you come out of there already?" he asked. "It feels like deja vu all over again."

"No!" Hermione answered, irritated. "I'm not coming out there!"

Riley turned away from the stall, and raised his arms to the sky.

"Women!" he exclaimed. "I don't get them!"

A pair of footsteps alerted him to someone approaching the girls' bathroom, and looked back to see Harry and Ron heading his way. They appeared back to their normal selves.

"That was close." Ron panted, as they hurried into the bathroom.

"An hour's up already?" asked Riley.

"And we've got good news and bad news." replied Harry. "Hermione, come out. We've got loads to tell you guys."

"Go away!" Hermione shouted from behind the stall door.

Moaning Myrtle floated out towards them, snickering.

"Wait till you see." she giggled. "It's awful."

The three Gryffindor males looked at her, then back at the stall.

"Hermione?" Harry called, concerned. "A-Are you okay?"

He pushed the door open, and Ron and Riley's faces turned to one of shock.

"Merciful Zeus." gasped Riley.

Harry's hand scrambled for his glasses to try and see what the others were looking at.

"Do you remember me telling you that the Polyjuice Potion was only for human transformations?" asked Hermione. "Tony was right. It was cat hair I plucked off Millicent Bulstrode's robes."

She turned to face her friends, just as Harry put on his glasses. She had partially transformed into a cat. Complete with the face, whiskers, ears, and tail.

"Look at my face." Hermione whispered, miserably.

"Look at your tail!" exclaimed Ron.

Harry and Riley looked at each other as their friends laughed at Hermione's predicament.

"So, how are we going to explain this?" asked Riley.

"That's a good question." replied Harry.

* * *

Since Tony was a Slytherin, and a friend of the gang's, I decided to have him lead Harry and Ron to the Slytherin Dungeon. I also added new OCs to the Slytherin House, the ones Tony was talking about. I know I mentioned another Muggleborn Slytherin, but I'm saving that for another time. I wanted Tony to be the only Muggleborn Slytherin for this story, I will try to introduce more in the future.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, the Gabriels, Jesse Reigns, Scott and Jasmine Willows. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	12. Harry's Discovery

Chapter Twelve: Harry's Discovery

Several weeks had passed since the undercover job in Slytherin's dormitory. Hermione had to stay in the Hospital Wing until she had changed back to normal. After dinner, Harry, Ron, and Riley started heading to their dormitories for the night.

"Have either of you spoken to Hermione?" asked Ron.

"She should be out of the hospital in a few days," replied Harry. "When she stops coughing up furballs."

"Must've adopted some of the cat's traits temporarily." Riley assumed, tapping his chin in thought. "At least Tony didn't rub it in."

"Yeah."

They stopped when Harry looked down at the stone step in front of them, and looked down as well. There was a huge puddle of water covering it. They followed the path where the water was coming from, and upon entering the corridor, they saw that it was flooded.

"Yuck!" exclaimed Ron.

"Looks like Moaning Myrtle's flooded the bathroom." said Harry.

"Either that or the monster's out again." Riley added, looking at his friends.

The three of them hurried down the corridor and into the girls' bathroom. They were surprised to find that all of the sinks were turned on and flooding over, and water had covered the entire floor of the bathroom. The sounds of mournful sobbing reached their ears, and they saw Moaning Myrtle sitting by the window, crying and sniffling.

"Myrtle?" Riley called out to her.

Moaning Myrtle stopped crying, and looked at the three Gryffindors.

"Come to throw something else at me?" she asked.

"Why would I throw something at you?" Harry retorted, curiously.

"Don't ask me. Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me."

"But it can't hurt if someone throws something at you." Ron reminded her. "I mean, it'll just go right through you."

Riley groaned, facepalming.

"Ron,-" he started, rounding on him.

Moaning Myrtle beat him right to it. She flew straight over in Ron's face, looking seriously ticked off.

"Oh, sure! Let's all throw books at Myrtle because she can't feel it!" she shouted, sarcastically. "Ten points if you get it through her stomach!"

Myrtle paused to throw her fist through Ron's stomach as she said this.

"Fifty points if it goes through her head!" she added, punching through Ron's head.

Riley smirked at Ron, who stared back at the ghost, startled.

"She got your number." he told his dormmate.

Ron shot him a glare before Harry pushed the two of them away from each other.

"Cut it out." the latter scolded his friends, before looking back at Myrtle. "Who threw it at you, anyway?"

"I don't know." replied Myrtle. "I didn't see them. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell through the top of my head."

She floated away, whimpering with sorrow.

"I feel kinda bad." said Riley. "And I didn't even do anything."

Harry walked past him, his face fixed with puzzlement. A book laid on the ground in front of the stall that Moaning Myrtle usually occupied.

"Must be the weapon of choice." Riley observed, walking towards Harry.

"Let's take it to Hermione, see what she thinks." said Harry.

The three returned to the hospital wing, and showed Hermione what Harry had found. She examined the book and flipped to the back of the book.

"There's a name on this diary." she told her friends. "'Tom Marvolo Riddle'."

"Never heard that name before." shrugged Riley.

"'Tom Marvolo Riddle'?" Ron repeated, taking the diary from her. "Hang on, I know that name."

He paused to think, and looked as if he had really heard of it.

"Where do I know that name?" he wondered aloud.

After a brief moment, Ron finally remembered.

"Of course! That night at detention!" he gasped in remembrance. "My job was to polish the silver in the trophy room. I remember, because I kept burping up slugs all over Tom Riddle's trophy."

"Malfoy's been a lot of big help in this investigation, hasn't he?" asked Riley. "More help than Lockhart anyway."

Ron and Hermione each shot him a glare.

"What was the trophy for?" asked Harry."

"He won an award, fifty years ago." replied Ron. "Special services to the school or something."

He handed Harry the diary, and Hermione stared at him.

"Fifty years ago?" she repeated. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Why?" asked Ron.

The gears began to turn in Hermione's head as an idea came to her.

"Don't you remember what Malfoy told you?" she asked her friends. "The last time the Chamber was opened was..."

"Fifty years ago." Harry said, realizing where his friend was going. "But that means..."

"Tom Riddle was here at Hogwarts when it happened! What if he wrote about what he saw? It's possible he knew where the Chamber was. How to open it. Even what sort of creature lives in it."

"Another break in the case." Riley cheered, quietly.

"Yes, but if so, whoever's behind these attacks wouldn't want this diary lying around, would they?" Hermione reminded him.

"It's a brilliant theory, Hermione, but just one flaw." Harry announced, looking at his friends. "There's nothing written in this diary."

He held out the book towards them, flipping through the pages. They were all blank.

"Back to the drawing board." sighed Riley.

* * *

A few days later, after heading to the Hospital Wing to retrieve Hermione, Harry told his friends what he had learned from the diary. He explained that out of curiosity, he started writing in it, and Tom Riddle spoke to him. Tom showed him an event from fifty years ago, and revealed that Hagrid was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets back then.

"Oh, come on." said Tony. "Hagrid's not good at keeping secrets, but he's always trying to keep students out of harm's way, right?"

"Right, Tony. It can't be Hagrid." agreed Hermione. "It just can't be."

"We don't even know this Tom Riddle." Ron pointed out. "He sounds like a dirty, rotten snitch."

Riley nodded in agreement, and heard a soft thudding sound beside him. He turned back to see he had dropped one of his comic books, and when picking it up, he saw Hagrid coming their way.

"G-Guys,..." Riley whispered, looking back at his friends.

"The monster had killed somebody, Ron." Harry reminded Ron. "What would any of us have done?"

" _Guys_."

"Look, Hagrid's our friend." Hermione told her friends. "Why don't we just go and ask him about it?"

"That would be a cheerful visit." Ron responded, sarcastically. "'Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?'"

Riley was about to alert his friends once again that Hagrid was coming their way when...

"'Mad and hairy'?" Hagrid's voice repeated. "You wouldn't be talking about me, now, would you?"

The five students turned around quickly to face him.

"No." they answered, quickly.

Hagrid looked between them, suspicious. Harry saw the can in the half-giant's hand, and thought fast.

"What's that you've got there, Hagrid?" he asked.

Hagrid looked down at the can in his hand, then looked back at his friends.

"Oh, it's, uh, Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent." he explained. "For the Mandrakes, you know. Now, according to Prof. Sprout, they've still got a bit of growing to do."

"Oh, so not much longer, huh?" asked Tony.

"Not at all. Those Petrified kids, Sir Nicholas, and Mrs. Norris will be okay again real soon. You'll see. Once their acne's cleared up, we'll chop them up and stew them, and then we'll get those people down at the hospital un-Petrified."

"Best news I've heard all year." said Riley.

Harry and the others nodded in agreement.

"In the meantime, though, you five had best be looking after yourselves." Hagrid told them. "Alright?"

He walked away, leaving the five students standing behind him in the courtyard.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling a change in the winds." Tony declared, smiling.

He and the four Gryffindors started to walk away, but they caught sight of Neville running towards them and stopped.

"Is Malfoy picking on you again, Neville?" asked Tony.

"No." answered Neville.

He looked straight at Harry now.

"Harry, I don't know who did it, but you'd better come." the accident-prone boy told him.

He led the five of them back into the castle and straight to Gryffindor Tower. Upon entering the portrait, Tony lingered behind. Hermione looked back at him, and dashed back to the hole in the wall.

"Well?" she asked.

"I can't go in there." Tony said, pointing into the room. "I'm a Slyther-"

"Come on!"

Hermione yanked her friend inside by the arm, and pulled him up the stairs, taking chase after the four Gryffindors ahead of them. Upon entering, they saw that the boys' room was a mess. Feathers, books, and robes had been scattered all over the place, and picture frames and lanterns laid on the floor, broken. The beds and drawers themselves were torn apart. Hedwig and Shadow remained outside of their cages, screeching, while Bubba sat huddled in a corner. Riley walked over to the cat and picked him up in his arms, petting him, while Harry knelt down to check the damage.

"It had to be a Gryffindor." Hermione deduced, looking at her friends. "Nobody else knows our password. Unless it wasn't a student."

"Whoever it was, they must have been looking for something." said Ron.

"And they found it." Harry announced, looking at his friends. "Tom Riddle's diary is gone."

"Still feeling a change in the winds, Tony?"

"Did I say that?" Tony asked, uneasily.

* * *

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, the Gabriels, Jesse Reigns, Scott and Jasmine Willows. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	13. Hitting Close to Home

Chapter Thirteen: Hitting Close to Home

Hermione dragged Riley and Tony with her to the library while Harry went to prepare for his upcoming Quidditch match. The three of them were doing research for anything that could help them prevent another attack.

"Okay, let's go over what we know so far," Hermione told the two boys sitting across from her. "The Heir of Slytherin is a Parselmouth, it's been fifty years since the last time it killed, and the last time the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, and for some reason spiders seem to always be found leaving through a window when someone's been attacked."

"And the first time there had been an attack, there was a huge flood of water." added Tony.

"Also, Harry always hears a voice before finding the next victim," Riley reminded them. "A voice that only he can hear."

"And let's not forget, a Gryffindor might have something to do with the attacks, since our password isn't exactly public information. The attacks took place near the second floor, the first floor near the Hospital Wing, and near the middle courtyard, all when not too many people would be around to notice." Hermione pointed out. "Now with all that bit of clues, what conclusion can we draw from them?"

The three of them thought to themselves very carefully. Tony was the first to speak.

"I still stick to my snake theory." he declared, quietly.

Riley and Hermione stared at him for a moment, then looked at each other.

"You think Malfoy's brewed a Polyjuice Potion to infiltrate the Gryffindor Tower?" asked Riley.

"It could be possible." answered Hermione. "And Tony, no snake in the world would have an ability that dangerous."

"In the Muggle world, Hermione,-"

Hermione had had enough. She shot him a glare that would almost put Prof. McGonagall's to shame.

"Tony, drop the snake theory." she ordered.

Tony nodded, cringing away from the table a little.

"Man, Hermione, if looks could kill." he muttered, sheepishly.

Hermione's glare slowly melted away, and you could practically see the wheels starting to turn in her head.

"Say that again." she whispered.

"I said 'if looks could kill'?" Tony repeated, cautiously.

A smile formed on Hermione's face as she quickly shot out of her seat like a cannon, and hurried toward a bookshelf. Tony slowly turned to glance at Riley, stunned.

"Do you know what's going on?" he asked.

"Do what I do, Tony, and just wait a bit, then it'll all make sense." replied Riley.

Hermione raced back over to them, an open book in her hands.

"I can't believe I didn't see it before!" she whispered in excitement. "There's no snake in existence that's capable of just Petrification, but there's one that's capable by killing someone if you look it directly in the eyes!"

"So, what you're saying is..." Riley said, realizing where she was going with this.

"The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a snake!"

Hermione, Riley, and Tony cheerfully high-fived one another, excited about their breakthrough in the case. Their celebration was cut short when they heard something that sounded like a mixture between a hiss and a growl.

"Did you hear that?" asked Riley.

"I was hoping that was my imagination." Hermione answered, fearfully.

"Okay, Hermione, you said that this monster can kill someone by looking at it directly in the eyes," Tony said, looking at her. "What can stop it from killing us?"

Hermione looked at the page in the book again, and then looked up at Riley.

"Riley, do you still carry that mirror your mother gave you?" she asked.

Riley nodded, and took the compact mirror out from his bag. Hermione took a mirror out from her own bag.

"Riley, you need to make sure Tony gets back to his dormitory safely," she told her Housemate. "I'll meet you at Gryffindor Tower."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" asked Tony.

"I'm positive. Keep your eyes down, if you see anyone else along the way, warn them to look away. Now hurry and go."

Riley and Tony nodded and headed to the doorway, stopping to see if the snake was still out there. Once they were certain that it was clear, they motioned for Hermione that they were good, and the three of them headed in separate directions. Riley and Tony had to stop a few times to make sure they weren't being followed, or were walking into the snake's trap. Once they reached the stone wall in the dungeons that led to the Slytherin dormitory, it suddenly occurred to them that nothing had been following them.

"Do you think Hermione's alright?" asked Tony.

"I hope so." replied Riley. "I'll head back to our dormitory, you stay in here."

He took off down the halls once again, keeping his eyes down as he did so. He had been so focused on trying to make it to the seventh floor without running into the snake, and meeting up with Hermione, that by accident, he ended up nearly knocking Prof. McGonagall to the ground as he ran into her.

"Cross, what are you doing running around the corridors at a time like this?!" the Transfiguration professor demanded, angrily. "The Quidditch game is about to begin!"

"Forget the Quidditch game!" Riley responded, hurriedly. "Have you seen Hermione?"

"Not recently."

Prof. McGonagall then took notice of the panic on Riley's face.

"Mr. Cross, what's going on?" she asked, sternly.

"We heard something lurking outside of the library," answered Riley. "Hermione, Tony, and I were in there a moment ago."

"What were you doing here?"

Riley gulped, nervously. He and his friends might have gotten away with interfering with school business last year, but they might not have gotten so lucky this year.

"St-Studying for finals." he explained. "We offered to study with Hermione, since she was a little afraid of being by herself. Muggleborn attacks and everything."

Prof. McGonagall examined her student's face carefully, and for a moment, Riley had thought that she didn't believe him. Then,...

"Come." Prof. McGonagall ordered, stiffly. "We'll see if she's alright. Do you know where Miss Granger was heading to?"

"When we heard the noise, Hermione told me to make sure Tony got back to his dormitory safely, while she went to ours by herself." Riley explained. "She assured us that she'd be okay."

Prof. McGonagall stared at him again like she did a moment ago, accepting what she was being told. The two of them walked down the corridor, and when they reached the first floor again, they saw someone laying down in front of the doorway leading to the library. A person with long, bushy, brown hair. It was Hermione. She had been Petrified like the others before her.

"Goodness." Prof. McGonagall gasped, covering her mouth with one hand.

She had Riley help her move Hermione back into the library, then made him stay inside while she went to get help. Then after a long while of waiting, two of the professors came back with a stretcher to move Hermione to the Hospital Wing, while Riley was escorted by Prof. Snape back to Gryffindor Tower. The rest of the Gryffindors showed up several minutes after he did, and Harry and Ron were the last to return. They hurried over to where Riley was sitting, which was by the staircase.

"Did you know that Hermione has been Petrified?" asked Harry.

"Yeah." replied Riley. "She told me to make sure Tony got to his dormitory, and she'd meet me back in the Gryffindor common room."

"What were you guys doing by the library?" asked Ron.

"I'll explain later."

Harry was about to demand for answers now, but Prof. McGonagall had entered the room with a scroll in her hands.

"Could I have your attention, please?" she called, over the noise of students.

She waited for the Gryffindors to quiet down, and continued.

"Because of recent events, these new rules will be put into effect immediately: 'All students will return to their House common rooms by 6:00 every evening.'" Prof. McGonagall announced, reading from the roll of parchment. "'All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions.'"

She rolled up the parchment once more, looking quite grave.

"I should tell you this: Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught, it is likely the school will be closed." she told them.

The students watched as their Head of House left the dormitory without another word. Riley exhaled deeply, running a hand through his hair. He casted a casual glance to the side, and did a double take when he saw Ginny looking a little guilty all of a sudden. Hermione's words echoed in his head once again.

 _"It had to be a Gryffindor."_ she had said. _"Nobody else knows our password."_

Riley quickly looked away as Ginny looked his way again. Then it had hit him. The night Colin Creevey was Petrified, Ginny had left the dormitory, too. And she had been acting weird since then.

"...We've got to talk to Hagrid, guys." Harry whispered to him and Ron. "I can't believe it's him, but if he did set the monster loose last time, he'll know how to get inside the Chamber of Secrets. That's a start."

"But you heard McGonagall." Ron whispered back. "We're not allowed to leave the Tower except for class."

Riley looked at them, and saw Harry thinking of a way to get out of the castle, unnoticed.

"I think it's time to get my dad's old cloak out again." decided Harry.

"I'm not going." Riley told them, quietly. "I'll stay here in the Tower."

"Why?" asked Ron.

"The diary said that Hagrid opened the chamber, then it goes missing, and presumably by a Gryffindor. I'll stakeout here to see if anyone from our House acts out of the ordinary."

Harry looked at him, and nodded. That was a good idea. That night, once everyone was asleep, he and Ron tiptoed down the stairs with the invisibility cloak in his hands. Riley had stayed downstairs in the common room, pretending to be hard at work, studying for finals. Harry and Ron looked at him, as he sat on the sofa, keeping his head down so he'd be out of sight.

"See you in a bit." whispered Ron.

"Godspeed." Riley replied, quietly.

He watched as his two friends disappeared under the cloak, and left the Tower. Riley waited several minutes for any other Gryffindors to come down, then finally, he heard footsteps coming down his way. He poked his head over the seat and saw Ginny walking down the stairs with the diary in her hands. Upon seeing him, Ginny visibly jumped and tried to hide the diary in her pocket.

"Alright, start explaining." said Riley.

"R-Riley, I swear, I-I didn't mean anything..." Ginny stammered, nervously. "Y-You have to believe me."

"Ginny, you act like you're the culprit in the crimes committed this entire year."

Riley grinned at her in a joking manner, then his grin slowly faded when he saw Ginny looking more and more upset.

"Ginny?" he spoke, hoarsely.

"Riley, let me explain." Ginny pleaded with him, as she hurried down to sit in front of him. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Riley couldn't believe that Ginny was the culprit behind the attacks. The theft was one thing, but this was ridiculous. Then he remembered the diary.

"Ginny, why did you steal the diary?" he asked.

"I found it in my cauldron, when I got back from Diagon Alley before school started." explained Ginny. "I just started to write in it, and this person started writing back."

Riley felt his blood run cold. Harry had told him and the others the exact same thing before the diary was stolen.

"Tom Riddle." he whispered, stunned.

"You know his name." Ginny gasped, surprised.

"He spoke to Harry, too. It was because of Tom that Harry thinks that Hagrid had opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago."

Ginny stared at her Housemate, shocked. She didn't believe it anymore than her friends and brother did.

"What does Tom say to you, Ginny?" asked Riley.

Ginny looked a little embarrassed, her face had gone a little red. Riley assumed that she must've told Tom some personal secrets.

"Ginny, leave out the personal bits, and tell me, has the diary done anything strange to you recently?" the Muggleborn wizard asked. "According to Harry, it took him back fifty years into the past to show him the event. It might be capable of something else."

Ginny wracked her brain a little, trying to come up with something.

"Well, sometimes after I talked with Tom, I have problems with my memory." she answered, looking at her friend dead in the eye. "Sometimes I'd find myself standing with feathers all over my robes, or have blood on my hands,...Riley, I'm so scared."

Riley narrowed his eyes a little then held out his hand.

"Give me that diary." he ordered, gently.

Ginny looked at him, fearfully, but then Riley smiled.

"I'm not going to tell anybody." he promised. "If I had to tell on you for this, I'd have to tell on Harry and Ron for investigating right now."

Ginny nodded, and handed him the diary. Riley glanced at the diary for a moment, then stood up, and calmly walked over to the fireplace. He casually tossed the book into the fire, and turned to face Ginny.

"Problem solved." the Muggleborn boy announced.

To his surprise though, Ginny did not look at ease. Her gaze was still fixed on the book in the fireplace. Riley turned around and stared in horror as the fire continued to burn brightly, while the book remained undamaged.

"Okay, problem not solved." he spoke, quietly.

* * *

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why sleep is very important. When your body says "get your hide to bed", do it. Don't worry about updating until you're wide awake the next day.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, the Gabriels, Jesse Reigns, Scott and Jasmine Willows. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	14. Emergence

Chapter Fourteen: Emergence

Five days had passed since Hermione's attack, since Prof. Dumbledore had been suspended thanks to Lucius Malfoy's handiwork, since Hagrid was framed and arrested by the Ministry of Magic. Ginny had never felt so guilty in her life, even though Riley had assured her time and time again that she was not to blame. Riley had tried everything to destroy the diary, but he couldn't even tear the pages out from the spine. Now, he was walking back to Gryffindor Tower after finishing classes for the day, and upon arrival, Percy walked over to him.

"Excuse me, Riley, but have you seen Ginny?" he asked.

"Not since lunch." replied Riley.

"I'm worried. She has been acting so out of it for months."

It had eaten away at Riley's conscience to know that something was wrong with Ginny, and not being able to tell her any of her brothers about it. He promised to keep it a secret, out of fear that she'd be to blame. His thoughts strayed toward the diary again, and he felt a pang of terror in his chest.

"I'm going to ask if any of the professors have seen her." Riley announced, quickly heading out of the tower.

"You cannot go out there right now, Riley!" Percy yelled after him.

"Sorry, can't hear you!"

Riley raced down the hallway, being careful not to run into any of the staff, until he had finally caught sight of Ginny standing in the middle of hallway. She stood facing a wall, and seemed to be holding her arm against it.

"Ginny!" Riley called, relieved.

He raced over to her, and saw that she was tracing her hand against the wall in front of her. Upon closer examination, a feeling of intense nauseousness struck the Muggleborn wizard. Ginny was writing a message on the wall in blood, and fresh tears were rolling down her face as she did so. Riley stepped forward, and tried to pull her back.

"Ginny, it's me! Riley!" he called, urgently. "Come on! Stop this!"

Ginny refused to budge. It was as if she was in a trance. Riley continued to try and move her when he felt something warm and slimy tickle the back of his neck. His heart instantly started pounding in his chest, and an ice cold chill ran up and down his spine. Riley shut his eyes tightly, knowing that if he had looked the monster in the eyes, he'd die. Suddenly a pair of hands roughly grabbed his face. Their fingers started to try and pry his eyelids open, while trying to turn the boy around to look at his would-be killer.

"No!" Riley shouted, trying to fight back. "Let me go!"

"Accept your fate, Mudblood." a new voice hissed. "You can't fight it."

"Who are you?!"

"I am the true Heir of Slytherin."

Riley felt his eyes starting to open, and reached down to his pocket. He couldn't fight this guy by himself, but he can still escape from this with his life. He could do nothing more than count on his friends to know something bad was about to happen.

"I...will...not...die!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Tony were visiting the Hospital Wing, and were sitting on either side of Hermione's bed after replacing her dead flowers with new ones. They broke away from their Housemates and snuck off to the Hospital Wing to see her, not knowing what to do. Things were getting more worse than they were getting better.

"Wish you were here, Hermione." Harry said, sorrowfully. "We need you. Now more than ever."

Tony looked away, miserably. He had told the two that he, Hermione, and Riley had found a book with the answers to what they were looking for. But when he had gone to find the book, the page with the information had been torn out. They were now back at square one. Fortunately, Harry had felt something in Hermione's hand, and he gently pulled out a wadded-up piece of paper from it. Tony glanced down at the wad of paper, and his heart soared with hope.

"Oh, please let that be what I think that is." he whispered.

Harry uncrumpled the paper, and stared down at it.

"What's that?" asked Ron.

Harry didn't answer. He just looked at Tony.

"Tony, this is what you're talking about, isn't it?" he asked. "Why you, Riley, and Hermione were in the library that day?"

Tony quickly hurried around the bed, and glanced down at the piece of paper. It was the missing page from the book.

"That's it!" he whispered, gleefully.

"It is?" asked Ron.

Harry told the two to follow after him, and they hurried out of the hospital. While walking down the corridors and the stairs, Harry read to them what was on the page.

"'Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the basilisk.'" Harry read, his eyes not straying from the page. "'Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet the giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it.'"

He paused to look at Tony and Ron.

"Guys, this is it." he told them. "The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk. That's why I can hear it speak. It's a snake."

"But if it kills by looking people in the eye, why is it no one's dead?" asked Ron.

"Hermione said that it was capable of killing if you only look it directly in the eyes." Tony answered, looking at him. "So, maybe you have to keep eye contact with the eyes, nothing intercepting."

Harry wracked his brain for the answer while the Slytherin Muggleborn spoke, then it hit him as he looked at a nearby glass cabinet.

"He's right." he agreed. "No one did look it in the eye, not directly at least."

The three boys continued to walk down the corridors, while Harry explained it to them.

"Colin saw it through his camera, Justin-Justin must have seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick," he listed, looking at them. "Nick got the full blast of it, but he's a ghost. He couldn't die again. And Hermione had the mirror."

"Riley and his habits are rubbing off on her." said Tony.

"She was using it to look around corners in case it came along when you guys were evacuating the library."

Tony nodded, agreeing.

"And Mrs. Norris?" asked Ron. "I'm pretty sure she didn't have a camera or a mirror, Harry."

Harry thought hard about the answer to that one. Cats couldn't exactly hold either one, or even carry one on their person, figuratively speaking. Then it hit him.

"The water." he realized. "There was water on the floor that night. She only saw the basilisk's reflection."

Harry, Ron, and Tony hurried over to a nearby pedestal with a fire still lit on it to continue reading.

"'Spiders flee before it.'" Harry read, before looking at his friends. "It all fits."

"How's a basilisk been getting around?" asked Ron. "A dirty, great snake. Someone would have seen it."

Harry nodded at the page in his hands. There was a word scribbled on it.

"Hermione's answered that, too." he said.

"Pipes?" Ron yelped, quietly. "It's using the plumbing."

"But where is it coming from?" asked Tony. "The only thing we have yet to cover is which pipe it's coming from, which leads to the Chamber of Secrets."

Harry's face brightened up, as if he had thought of something.

"Remember what Aragog said, about that girl 50 years ago?" he asked, looking at Ron. "She died in a bathroom? What if she never left?"

Ron and Tony looked at each other, suddenly catching on.

"Moaning Myrtle." they gasped.

The puzzle was almost completed now. But just as they decided to pay Moaning Myrtle a visit, Prof. McGonagall's voice suddenly spoke over the P.A..

"All students are to return to their House dormitories at once." she announced. "All teachers to the second-floor corridor immediately."

Harry, Ron, and Tony looked at each other, horror filling their faces.

"Another attack?" Tony guessed, his eyes narrowing.

"Let's find out." said Harry.

The three boys jogged down to the second-floor corridor, and stopped behind a corner from where several staff members stood. Prof. McGonagall gestured to the wall to explain what was going on to her colleagues.

"As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message." she announced. "Our worst fear has been realized. A student has been taken by the monster into the Chamber itself, and another Muggleborn has been attacked. The students must be sent home. I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts."

Harry, Ron, and Tony looked at each other, stunned. They didn't know which bit of news was worse: Hogwarts was really closing down, another Muggleborn had been attacked, or that the basilisk had kidnapped a student. At that moment, Prof. Lockhart strutted toward the fellow staff members, looking pleasant.

"So sorry. Dozed off." he asked, casually. "What have I missed?"

"A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart, just after the attack on Mr. Riley Cross." Prof. Snape explained, irritated by his fellow professor's attitude toward the situation. "Your moment has come at last."

Harry and Ron looked back at Tony, who pressed his back against the wall, horrified. His best friend had been Petrified now.

"M-My m-moment?" Prof. Lockhart stammered, confused.

"Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?" asked Prof. Snape.

Harry and Ron saw that Prof. Lockhart looked completely taken aback, if this situation wasn't as bad as it was right now, they might have found their least favorite teacher's predicament somewhat amusing.

"That's settled." Prof. McGonagall declared, smiling. "We'll leave you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy. Your skills, after all, are legend."

For a moment, Prof. Lockhart looked afraid at the idea of actually doing it.

"Very well." he agreed, smiling. "Uh, I'll just be in my office getting, uh,...getting ready."

With that, the DADA professor took off back down the hallway. Then Madam Pomfrey looked at the Deputy Headmistress.

"Who is it that the monster's taken, Minerva?" she asked.

"Ginny Weasley." replied Prof. McGonagall.

Now it was Ron's turn to feel his heart sinking. His little sister was the Heir of Slytherin's captive. The staff cleared the corridor, and the message from the Heir of Slytherin had been revealed.

"'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'" Ron read, shaking.

He swallowed hard, his heart pounding more and more in his chest.

"Ginny." he whispered.

"I'm gonna kick that coward's hide." Tony muttered, angrily. "I don't care who this Heir of Slytherin is. This ends tonight."

"I agree." said Harry. "Go back to your dormitory, Tony."

"No."

Harry and Ron rounded on Tony, in an attempt to convince him to stay out of it.

"Tony,-" Harry began.

"I don't care if I'm Muggleborn." Tony told him, bravely. "We're a team. We're in this together. Like it or not. This guy's attacked Colin, and Hermione, and Riley, and now he's got Ginny. Either I go with you now, or I will sneak along after you when you're not looking."

Harry sighed, defeated. The three of them hurried toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, to find Prof. Lockhart's office.

"Lockhart may be useless, but he's going to try and get into the Chamber." Harry told Ron and Tony. "At least we can tell him what we know."

"When he's done putting on his make-up." cracked Tony.

"Tony, remind me to laugh at that joke later." Ron told him. "But thanks for trying."

"Anytime, buddy."

The three of them rushed into the office.

"Professor!" Harry called. "We have some information for you!"

To their surprise however, Prof. Lockhart was hurriedly trying to pack his things. He stopped and closed his trunk quickly, facing them. From the looks on his students' faces, he had been caught in the act.

"Are you going somewhere?" demanded Harry.

"Uh, uh, well, yes." answered Prof. Lockhart. "Urgent call. Unavoidable. Got to go."

He continued to pack as the students tried to persuade him otherwise.

"What about my sister?!" asked Ron.

"Well, um, as to that, most unfortunate." Prof. Lockhart told him. "No one regrets more than I."

"Oh, I bet!" Tony exclaimed, sarcastically.

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Ron reminded his professor. "You can't go now!"

Harry and Tony nodded in agreement, as Prof. Lockhart hurriedly stuffed a wig into the bag.

"I must say, when I took the job, there was nothing in the description-" the latter defended.

"You're running away?!" Harry asked, incredulous. "After all you did in your books?"

"Books can be misleading."

"You wrote them!"

Prof. Lockhart set his stuff down on the desk, and looked back at his students, exasperated.

"My dear boy, do use your common sense!" he exclaimed. "My books wouldn't have sold as well if people didn't think I'd done those things!"

Harry, Ron, and Tony then stared at him. This man truly was unbelievable.

"You're a fraud." Harry said, angrily. "You've just been taking credit for what other wizards have done."

"People looked up to you! Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hermione,...all those girls!" shouted Tony. "You're a real piece of work, Lockhart!"

"Is there anything you can do?" asked Ron.

Prof. Lockhart nodded, a strange look on his face.

"Yes, now you mention it." he answered. "I'm rather gifted with Memory Charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would have gone blabbing, and I'd never have sold another book."

He turned away to walk to his trunk to grab his wand from a box, aiming to erase the trio's memories.

"In fact, uh, I'm, uh, going to have to do the same to you." he decided.

Upon turning back, Prof. Lockhart found that Harry, Ron, and Tony were aiming their wands back at him.

"You're going to have to do what now?" asked Tony.

"Don't even think about it." threatened Harry.

He motioned with his wand for his former professor to lower his wand, and Prof. Lockhart dropped it. He then was forced to go to the girls' bathroom with the three students at wand point, and upon entering, they heard Moaning Myrtle's quiet crying inside. She stopped when she heard footsteps entering.

"Oh, who's there?" she asked.

Harry, Ron, Tony, and Prof. Lockhart walked into view, much to Moaning Myrtle's surprise.

"Oh, hello, Harry." she giggled, shyly. "What do you want?" she added, suspiciously.

"To ask you...how you died." answered Harry.

"Oh."

Her pleasant demeanor changed into one of sorrow again.

"It was dreadful." she started. "It happened right here in this very cubicle. I'd hidden because Oliver Hornby was teasing me about my glasses."

Tony stared hard at her, confused.

"Forgive me for interrupting, Myrtle, but...what's there to tease about?" he asked. "I honestly don't see what the big deal would be."

Moaning Myrtle gave him an appreciative smile, before continuing.

"Anyway, I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in." she continued.

"Who was it, Myrtle?" asked Harry.

"I don't know. I was _distraught_!"

Ron and Prof. Lockhart visibly flinched as the last word came out in a half-shout.

"But they said something funny, a kind of made-up language." Myrtle continued. "And I realized it was a boy, so I unlocked the door to tell him to _go away_ , and...I died."

Harry stared at her, confused, as to what she had meant. Tony on the other hand had an idea as to how she died.

"Just like that?" asked Harry. "How?"

"I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes." Moaning Myrtle answered, pointing at a sink. "Over there, by that sink."

"So, it was the monster in the Chamber of Secrets." said Tony. "The basilisk."

Moaning Myrtle nodded, and started to float away, moaning in misery once again.

"I feel so bad." whispered Tony. "There's no good reason to murder someone 'cause they're Muggleborn."

"That's why we've gotta put a stop to this now." declared Harry.

He stepped forward to examine the sink that Moaning Myrtle had pointed out. There was nothing special about it, and the water didn't run when he turned the tap. Then he noticed a snake was engraved on the side of the faucet.

"This is it." he breathed.

The Gryffindor student took a step back, speaking loud enough for his friends and professor to hear now.

"This is it, guys." he told the others. "I think this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."

The others stared at the sink in awe.

"Of course." Tony whispered, amazed.

"Say something." Ron encouraged, looking at Harry. "Harry, say something in Parseltongue."

Harry looked at the sink with the snake engraved on the faucet, then he opened his mouth. A strange hissing sound escaped from his lips. They heard an unlocking sound from within the structure, and the top of the statue rose up into the air. The sinks started separating from each other, and moved onto the vents, revealing a huge entrance to a pipe in their places. The sink with the snake on it dropped down into a hole, and was covered up by one of the vent doors. Tony stepped forward, looking down into the pipe, and let out a whistle, amazed.

"Okay, now I see how it's been getting around." he observed.

Behind him, Prof. Lockhart let out a breath that he had been holding, smiling at Harry.

"Excellent, Harry. Good work." he congratulated the young boy. "Well, then, I'll just be...uh,...There's no need for me to stay!"

He tried to run for it, but Ron, Harry, and Tony grabbed him and pushed him back.

"Oh, yes, there is!" Harry grunted, shoving him toward the hole.

Prof. Lockhart held out his arms, and stopped himself from falling by holding onto the sinks, and saw the three boys pointing their wands at him.

"You first." ordered Harry.

"Now, boys, what good will it do?" asked Prof. Lockhart.

"Better you than us." replied Ron.

Prof. Lockhart nodded, mumbling something in agreement. He slowly turned to look at the entrance. It looked like a long drop. Tony waited until Prof. Lockhart had completely turned around before standing precisely behind him, smirking devilishly.

"Sure you don't want to test it first?" Prof. Lockhart asked, turning to look at the students behind him.

"Nope." Tony replied, raising one leg up.

He nudged his teacher in the butt with his foot, pushing him hard enough to knock him into the tunnel. Prof. Lockhart descended into the pipes, shouting in fear, until it went completely silent.

"I'm feeling a little better now." Tony announced, quietly.

Harry and Ron smirked at him, then they looked back down at the pipes.

"It's really quite filthy down here." Prof. Lockhart's voice called up from the bottom.

"Newsflash, boyo, hero work is never clean!" Tony called back to him.

"Alright, let's go." said Harry.

Before he and his friends could jump, Moaning Myrtle addressed Harry.

"Oh, Harry?" she called. "If you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet."

Ron grimaced at her in disgust, while Tony smirked a little at Harry.

"Uh, thanks, Myrtle." said Harry.

He looked back down at the pipes, and jumped in first. Ron jumped in after him, then finally Tony. Tony was the only one who was enjoying the ride, while Harry and Ron were the only ones screaming. Eventually they made it to the bottom of the ride, and crashlanded in a pile of what appeared to be skeletons.

"Not having fun anymore." Tony muttered, looking at the pile.

He and his friends got up, and pointed their wands at Prof. Lockhart. Ron groaned in disgust at the sight of the bones around him. Harry then started marching forward toward what looked like the pipe that led to the next room. He looked back at Ron, Tony, and Prof. Lockhart.

"Now, remember: Any sign of movement, close your eyes straightaway." he instructed them.

"Go on." Ron ordered, glaring at Prof. Lockhart.

He followed after his friend and professor into the tunnel, with Tony following after him, his wand at the ready. The tunnel ended up leading into a cave full of rocks and some other material.

"What's this?" asked Ron.

Tony walked over beside Harry, and knelt down to pick up a piece of the material.

"It looks like a...snake." said Prof. Lockhart.

"It's a snakeskin." Harry corrected him.

Tony quickly dropped the piece of snakeskin he was holding, and wiped his hand on his robes hurriedly.

"Bloody hell, whatever shed this must be sixty feet long." Ron breathed, amazed. "Or more."

Beside him, Prof. Lockhart collapsed in a faint. Tony raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"Heart of a lion, this one." Ron commented, sarcastically.

To his surprise though, Prof. Lockhart got up, snatching the wand out of his hand. He glanced between the three students, a crazed look on his face.

"The adventure ends here, boys, but don't fret." Prof. Lockhart announced, pointing his wand at each of the boys. "The world will know our story. How i was too late to save the girl, how you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body."

He then pointed the wand at Harry.

"So,...you first, Mr. Potter." he said. "Say goodbye to your memories."

Tony stepped forward, raising his hands a little.

"Now, hold on, you don't want to do that." he cautioned the man. "That wand's-"

Prof. Lockhart ignored him anyway.

" _Obliviate_!" he shouted.

A bright light shot out from the wand, but not from the tip. The light struck Prof. Lockhart in the torso, and knocked him back into the wall, hard. The force of the backfire caused the cavern to rumble, and Harry quickly pulled Tony back towards him. They could only watch as the ceiling started to cave-in, and quickly jumped back to avoid being crushed. Luckily though, the cave didn't collapse completely.

"Are you alright, Tony?" asked Harry.

"In better shape than Lockhart, I'll bet." answered Tony.

They got back up, and heard Ron shouting for them, but from the other side of the wall.

"Harry! Tony!" Ron called, worried. "Where are you?!"

"We're over here, Ron!" Tony called back.

Harry dashed over to the wall, and looked through the opening.

"Ron! Ron, are you okay?!" he asked.

"I'm fine." Ron answered, nodding. "Where's Tony?"

"He's with me!"

Tony walked over to where Harry was and listened in on the conversation.

"...Really?" Prof. Lockhart's voice spoke. "And, uh,...who...who am I?"

"Lockhart's Memory Charm backfired!" Ron called to Harry and Tony. "He hasn't got a clue who he is!"

Harry and Tony looked at each other for a moment, then looked back through the opening. They cringed as they heard a small thudding sound. Ron had just knocked Prof. Lockhart out.

"What do I do now?" he asked.

"Don't panic for starters!" Tony called back. "The last thing we need is for anyone to panic!"

"Right, and you wait here and try and shift some of this rock so we can get back through." agreed Harry. "We'll go on and find Ginny."

"Okay." replied Ron.

* * *

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, the Gabriels, Jesse Reigns, Scott and Jasmine Willows. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	15. Uncovering Truths

Chapter Fifteen: Uncovering Truths

Harry and Tony walked back the other way away from the blocked off section of the cave to find the next tunnel. They ended up finding a door with seven snakes on it.

"Think that's the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Harry.

"Either that or Disney Land." Tony cracked, looking at him.

Harry glared back at him, and Tony looked away, taking the hint. Now was not the time to joke. He watched as his friend spoke in Parseltongue again, and the first snake head at the bottom of the door retracted. The rest of them followed suit as another snake slithered in the outer rim of the door. It disappeared in the other end of the hinges. The two students waited for the door to open before marching into the doorway, and climbing down the ladder. They looked from side to side, and checked to see if anyone was in the Chamber. There were statues of snake heads on each side of the road in the water, all staring at the ones on opposite sides of them. Harry and Tony looked at each other, thinking the same thing.

"Chamber of Secrets." they said in unison.

The two of them looked forward again, walking down the sidewalk, and they felt their hearts somersault a little. At the end of the road was a young girl. A girl in Hogwarts robes and long red hair.

"Ginny." gasped Harry.

He broke into a run towards Ginny, the basilisk being furthest from his mind at the moment, and Tony hurried after him. Harry knelt down beside Ginny, who laid on the ground, unconscious, and dropped his wand beside him.

"Ginny! Oh, Ginny, please don't be dead!" Harry pleaded with the girl. "Wake up! Wake up! Please wake up!"

Tony stopped short behind him, and saw the black book in her hands.

"Tom Riddle's diary." he whispered.

As he started to think, the three Hogwarts students were soon joined by another person.

"She won't wake." a male voice told Harry.

Harry and Tony looked around, and saw a teenage boy just a few years older than they were standing in the mouth of a cave at the side of the statue of the gaunt face towering over them. He wore a black set of robes with a dark sweater vest over a white collared shirt and a green and silver striped tie, and black pants with black shoes. His black wavy hair was neatly combed over the top of his head.

"Who're you?" Tony asked, cautiously.

Harry stared hard at him, then his eyes narrowed a little, as if recognizing him.

"Tom. Tom Riddle." he spoke, relieved. "What do you mean, she won't wake? She's not...?"

"She's still alive, but only just." Riddle explained, calmly, as he walked toward the students.

Before the conversation could continue, Tony made himself be heard.

"Wait, wait, wait, pause and rewind here, gentlemen." Tony interrupted, looking between the two, and raising his hands a little." Harry, you know this guy?"

"He's the one who spoke to me through the diary." Harry told him, not taking his eyes off of Riddle.

Something didn't seem right to either of them though. Harry had described his trip to the past that Tom Riddle had shown him, and the boy standing before them looked as he did in the memory.

"Are you a ghost?" asked Harry.

"A memory." Riddle corrected him. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."

Tony narrowed his eyes at him a little as he dropped down to his knees to examine Ginny, while Harry checked for any signs of life.

"She's as cold as ice." said Harry. "Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up."

"I think I can start a fire," Tony offered, looking at him. "I've learned how to from Riley's brother's old school books."

"Let's get out of here first."

Harry looked up at Riddle again.

"You've got to help us, Tom." he pleaded with the older teen. "There's a basilisk."

"It won't come until it's called." Riddle told him, casually.

Harry then noticed that Riddle was holding a wand in his hand. His wand. The Gryffindor rose to his feet, and held out his hand.

"Give me my wand, Tom." he demanded.

"You won't be needing it." Riddle responded, fingering the wand.

"Listen, we've got to go. We've got to save her."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger."

Tony stared up at him, suspicious.

"What, are you stealing her life force or something?" he asked.

Riddle simply smirked at him and Harry. Harry had a bad feeling where this conversation was heading, and Riddle nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets." he announced.

"No. She couldn't." Harry said, disbelieving. "She wouldn't."

"It was Ginny who set the basilisk on the Mudbloods and Filch's cat, Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls."

"But why?"

"Yeah. What does Ginny stand to gain from doing all of that?" asked Tony. "Most of the people who were attacked were her friends, people from her own House. Innocent people, and a cat and ghost."

Riddle merely smirked in response.

"Because I told her to." he admitted. "You'll find I can be very...persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing, she was, shall we say, in a kind of trance. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her, and she tried to dispose of it in the girls' bathroom, and then who should find it but you?"

Riddle started to circle around Harry and Tony now.

"The very person I was most anxious to meet." he continued, smiling maliciously. "Though I wish you had come without the Mudblood. No matter. This will give me the perfect opportunity to clean my old House of any Mudblood filth."

Harry saw Tony's eyebrows twitch with fury, but he didn't move to attack.

"And why did you want to meet me?" the Gryffindor student asked.

"I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could." the older teen answered. "So I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust."

"Hagrid's our friend! And you framed him, didn't you?"

"It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent."

Harry looked as if he wanted to laugh.

"I'll bet Dumbledore saw right through you." he said.

"He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that." Riddle snarled, angrily. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was at school, so I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my 16 year old self in it's pages so that one day I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished it this time. In a few hours, the Mandrake Draught will be ready, and everyone who was Petrified will be alright again."

To Harry and Tony's surprise though, this didn't seem to even phase Riddle.

"Haven't I told you?" the latter asked. "Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore."

"Oh what a load of crap." spat Tony. "That's the Heir of Slytherin's main purpose, isn't it? We know why Slytherin left the school, because he didn't get his stupid wish."

"I don't expect a simple Mudblood to understand, and how they allowed trash like you into Slytherin House is beyond me."

"There's more to a Slytherin than their blood, Riddle. Slytherin House is made of people who are cunning, resourceful, clever, and risk-takers. Like it or not, I'm one of those people."

Riddle's glare seemed to darken, if that was possible, then he turned his attention back on Harry.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, for many months now, my new target has been you." he spoke, calmly. "How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Why do you care how I escaped?" asked Harry. "Voldemort was after your time."

"Voldemort...is my past,...present,...and future."

Riddle turned away from them, and started to use the tip of Harry's wand to trace some letters into the air. Letters written in thin, fiery writing. The letters formed his full name: "Tom Marvolo Riddle". With a wave of the wand, the letters rearranged themselves to form "I am Lord Voldemort".

"Harry, isn't this the guy who you took down last year?" Tony asked, slowly, his voice going weak.

Harry didn't hear him. He stared down Riddle, who smirked back at him.

"You. You're the Heir of Slytherin." he gasped. "You're Voldemort."

"Surely you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy Muggle father's name?" asked Riddle. "No. I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world."

"Get real, you psycho!" snarled Tony.

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry argued, standing beside his friend.

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me." retorted Riddle.

"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!" Harry shot back.

Their argument was interrupted when the trio heard a cry in the distance. Harry and Tony turned around to see a red bird flying their way with something in it's claws.

"What's that?" asked Tony.

"Fawkes?" Harry spoke, confused.

Fawkes flew towards him and dropped a rolled up material into his hands.

"Harry, what sort of bird was that?" asked Tony.

"A phoenix." answered Harry. "He's Dumbledore's."

Tony stared up at Fawkes in amazement as it flew out of sight once again.

"Riley is going to go bananas when we tell him about this." he grinned.

Harry smiled at him, then looked at what the bird had given him, and unrolled it. It was the Sorting Hat.

"So this is what Dumbledore sends his great defenders." Riddle quipped, smirking. "A songbird, and an old hat."

Harry and Tony looked at the hat in the former's hands, while Riddle walked toward the statue. When he started suddenly speaking in Parseltongue, the two boys turned to stare at where he was standing.

"Tell me he's not doing what I think he's doing." Tony whispered to Harry, as they took a few steps back.

Harry didn't answer. They continued to watch as the mouth of the statue started to drop down slowly, creating a massive hole. Then Riddle turned back to them, smiling.

"Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the great Harry Potter." he declared.

Harry and Tony continued walking backwards slowly, and heard a strange sound coming from the mouth. A growling sound, that sounded also like a snake hissing.

"Run." Harry said, pulling on Tony's arm.

He and Tony started rushing back down the way they came from, dropping the Sorting Hat in the process.

"Parseltongue won't save you now, Potter." Riddle warned Harry. "It only obeys me."

Harry and Tony continued to run, taking special care not to glance into the water to avoid being Petrified. Harry suddenly slipped, and subconsciously grabbed onto Tony's arm, dragging him down with him. The basilisk was now just towering over them, and the two covered their heads. Fawkes suddenly cried out again, and it flew over the two boys' heads. The sounds of something crunching, and the shadows of both creatures fighting showed that Fawkes was helping their chances by blinding the beast.

"No!" howled Riddle. "Your bird might have blinded the basilisk, but it can still hear you."

Harry turned over on his back to watch as Fawkes flew away, and took Tony's hand as he pulled him to his feet. The two started to back away, watching as the basilisk writhed in pain, blindly trying to find it's prey. Unfortunately for the boys, Tony had accidentally stepped into a puddle, making a splashing sound that was loud enough to get the monster's attention. Harry pushed his friend along, and they ran for it down another hallway just as the snake tried to chomp at where they were.

"Hang on." whispered Tony.

He reached into his robes, and took out his wand.

" _Lumos_!" he whispered.

The tip of his wand shone with a bright light, which, luckily, the basilisk couldn't see. He and Harry ducked into one of the nearby tunnels, just as the basilisk tackled through the wall, and were chased further and further down the tunnel. They ran into the side of the tunnel, but were blocked off by a steel gate on the other side. Harry tried to push and pull to get it to break off, but to no avail. Tony aimed his wand at the gate, about to try and eliminate it, but the basilisk had already reached them. He and Harry pressed back against the gate as the basilisk moved in closer and closer, as if trying to sense their presence. It was only a matter of time before they were snake chow. Then Harry picked up a nearby rock and threw it through the gap between the wall and the monster's head. The rock clattered onto the ground, creating an echoing sound, and the snake hesitated. Both boys watched as their predator pulled away to follow the source of the noise, and left through a tunnel opposite of the one that led to the main chamber.

"I. Hate. Snakes." Tony muttered, low enough for only him and Harry to hear. " _Nox._ "

He put out the light on the tip of his wand before following after Harry, who headed back through the tunnel that led straight back to Ginny and Riddle. Harry collapsed to his knees beside Ginny, and checked for any signs of life, while Tony doubled over, panting heavily.

"Yes, Potter." smirked Riddle. "The process is nearly complete. In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead, and I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return, very much alive."

Tony raised his wand towards Riddle, aiming to curse him, but Riddle was faster.

" _Expelliarmus_." Riddle spoke, calmly.

The wand flew out of Tony's hand, and the Heir of Slytherin had caught it easily.

"A tool this powerful doesn't belong in the hands of a Mudblood." snarled Riddle. "The last one who stood against me ended up Petrified, you won't be so lucky, boy."

Harry glared up at him for a moment, then looked back at Ginny, his expression softening.

"Ginny?" he whispered, urgently.

A loud splashing sound from behind the four of them made both Harry and Tony jump, startled, and they looked behind them to see the basilisk emerging from the water. Tony stepped back beside Harry and Ginny, gulping audibly.

"Got a plan?" he asked.

To his surprise, Harry suddenly crawled towards the hat that laid nearby them, and withdrew a shining silver sword with rubies embedded in the hilt.

"Yeah." he answered. "We fight."

"I'll try and distract him." Tony offered, grinning. "Don't argue, we haven't got a lot of options right now."

Harry nodded, reluctantly, and they split up. Tony ran right into the massive puddle of water, and deliberately splashed around in it, while Harry started climbing up the stone statue.

"Oi, you overgrown worm!" taunted Tony. "I've seen butterflies scarier than you!"

He dove to the side as the basilisk lashed out towards him, and landed into the puddle, getting himself soaked. Tony spluttered and coughed as he spat water out of his mouth, and groaned as he wrung out his sleeves.

"Stupid snake,...stupid Voldemort,..." the Slytherin boy grumbled.

The sound of steel scrapping against stone alerted the basilisk to Harry's presence, and it slithered towards Harry once again. Tony quickly got up to his feet, and looked around for something to fight with. He heard the sound of something hitting the statue hard, and started jumping around in the puddle, making loud splashes.

"Come on, come on!" he muttered, hopefully. "Attack me, you stupid snake!"

Fortunately for him, the basilisk started heading his way once again. Tony slowly looked up and saw it coming.

"Me and my big mouth." he grumbled, kicking water around him.

The basilisk snapped at him, a few times, but missed each time. Harry was then able to make it to the top of the statue, and his footsteps alerted the snake to where he was. The basilisk lunged at him, but Harry warded it off by swinging the sword at it's snout. The second lunch sent him falling on his back, but he recovered quick. Harry swung the sword at the basilisk again, but was knocked further back towards the wall the back of the statue's head was attached to.

"Harry!" Tony called out to his friend. "Hold on, buddy!"

He dashed forward and went to try and attack the snake himself, but the basilisk heard him coming, and whipped it's tail at him, knocking him into the air. Tony bounced off his back, and flipped over on his stomach, groaning in pain. He looked up to see that the basilisk moved in to attack again, then suddenly gave a great howl of agony. The sword had pierced the roof of it's head. The basilisk flailed around, howling in pain, lowering it's head enough to look at it's home, then finally dropped to the ground, dead.

"Yes!" whispered Tony.

He dashed around the corpse of the basilisk to meet Harry, and to his horror, the Gryffindor was staggering slightly, while gripping his bloodied right arm. In one hand was the sword, and the other held a fang from the basilisk.

"Harry?" Tony called out, worried.

The Slytherin boy watched as Harry dropped the sword, and hurried to help him over to Ginny's side.

"Oh, no." he moaned. "Harry!"

"Remarkable, isn't it, how quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body?" Riddle observed, smirking. "I'd guess you have little more than a minute to live. You'll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry."

Harry and Tony glared up at him, then the former looked back down at Ginny, and took her hand.

"Funny, the damage a silly little book can do, especially in the hands of a silly little girl." Riddle taunted, enunciating the last three words.

Both Harry and Tony looked at each other, then Harry took the diary out from under Ginny's arm, and set it down on the ground, opening it.

"What are you doing?" asked Riddle.

Tony watched as Harry picked up the fang of the basilisk, and smirked.

"Stop!" shouted Riddle. "No!"

Too late. Harry pierced one side of the book with the fang, making black ink gush from it like blood from a stab wound. Tony looked up at Riddle and saw that a light was shining out of where one would think his heart was.

"It's working!" cheered Tony. "Keep it up, Harry!"

Harry removed the fang from the book, and looked up to see Riddle about to lunge at him, and stabbed the other side of the book. Part of Riddle's face started shining in a bright white light, causing him to grab at it. Harry removed the fang once again, and looked at the deteriorating memory. He flipped the book to the front cover, and stabbed at it again. More and more parts of Riddle started to disintegrate, until finally he exploded into nothingness. Instantly, Ginny let out a gasp, and woke up. She sat up and looked around, confused. Behind her, Harry called out to her, and she looked at him and Tony, who both smiled at her.

"Harry. Tony." Ginny gasped, obviously scared. "It was me. But I swear, I didn't mean to. Riddle made me, and..."

The Weasley female trailed off when she saw that Harry was injured.

"Harry,...you're hurt." she observed.

"You should see the basilisk." Tony told her, jerking his thumb behind him.

"Don't worry." Harry reassured Ginny, before turning to Tony. "Tony, get Ginny out of here. Follow the Chamber and find Ron."

Tony looked down at him, and shook his head.

"We're not leaving without you, Harry." he responded, looking between him and Ginny. "Riddle doesn't know anything. As long as we don't take you to Lockhart, you'll be fine. Prof. Snape might have a bezoar he can give you, or Madam Pomfrey might have a cure."

"Don't worry about me." Harry told him, firmly. "Ginny is the main priority here. Tony, get her out."

The trio heard Fawkes squawking again, and watched as it landed beside Harry.

"If it isn't our little friend." observed Tony. "Thanks for the save, by the way. We owe you one big time."

"He's right. You were brilliant, Fawkes." agreed Harry. "I just wasn't quick enough."

He appeared to look more and more pale, more closer to death. Fawkes then lowered it's head over where the basilisk's fang pierced him, and started to cry. Tears dropped down onto the injury, and suddenly, the hole closed up. Harry looked better again.

"Of course! Phoenix tears have healing powers." he whispered, amazed.

He turned to look at the phoenix beside him, and smiled gratefully.

"Thanks." he said.

Harry then looked over at Ginny.

"It's alright, Ginny." he reassured her. "It's over. It's just a memory."

The three of them, with Fawkes flying behind them, headed back through the Chamber, and met up with Prof. Lockhart and Ron, who had managed to shift the rocks enough to create a big enough opening for them to get back through. Fawkes provided a ride back home for them, which was by flying back up through a hole in the cavern outside of the castle.

"Amazing!" cheered Prof. Lockhart. "This is just like magic!"

Fawkes was holding onto his shoulders by the talons, with Ron and Tony hanging onto either one of his legs, and Harry holding onto each of their legs with one arm, while the other arm was wrapped around Ginny.

* * *

Yes, I am a fan of the Buffy and Angel series, but mostly I am a Spike fan.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, the Gabriels, Jesse Reigns, Scott and Jasmine Willows. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


	16. Another Evil Bites the Dust

Chapter Sixteen: Another Evil Bites the Dust

"You three realize, of course, that in the past few hours, you have broken perhaps a dozen school rules." Prof. Dumbledore scolded, looking at each of the students in front of him.

The following morning, he had returned, and learned that Harry, Ron, and Tony had gone to the Chamber of Secrets, and put themselves into harm's way once again. Now the three of them stood before their headmaster's desk, ready to be reprimanded for their actions.

"Yes, sir." the three boys spoke in agreement.

"There is sufficient evidence to have all three of you expelled." Prof. Dumbledore told them.

"Yes, sir."

"Therefore, it is only fitting..."

Harry, Ron, and Tony braced themselves. Here it came, their headmaster was about to expel them.

"...that the three of you receive Special Awards for Services to the School." announced Prof. Dumbledore.

The three boys in front of him looked at each other, relieved and thankful, before looking at him once again.

"Thanks, sir." breathed Ron.

"Now, Mr. Weasley, if you would have an owl deliver these release papers to Azkaban." Prof. Dumbledore requested, handing him an envelope. "I believe we want our gamekeeper back. And Mr. Gabriel, would you mind waiting outside for a moment? I would like to address Harry alone for a moment."

Ron and Tony nodded, and left the office. They looked at each other, and grinned.

"We did pretty good." said Tony.

"Yeah, I guess we did." Ron agreed, nodding. "I thought you hated snakes though."

"I think I'm finally over it. Helping Harry fight that basilisk to save your sister gave me the motivation I needed to overcome that little phobia."

"You know something? I take what I said about Slytherin House back. Not everyone in it's bad. You and your friends there are alright."

"I'm glad you think so, Ron."

Ron departed down the staircase to send the paperwork to Azkaban, while Tony waited outside of the office for Harry. A few minutes later, an unpleasant surprise showed up. Mr. Malfoy climbed up the stairs and Tony had to hurriedly step back through the door to let him pass. Behind Mr. Malfoy was a small, timid, elf-like creature with big green eyes. It was also dressed in what appeared to be a pillowcase. Tony awkwardly waved down at the creature, and smiled.

"Hiya." he greeted. "Tony Gabriel. Slytherin."

The elf-like creature looked up at him, too afraid to speak back. Especially with the look that Mr. Malfoy was shooting the Slytherin boy.

"Dobby!" Harry exclaimed, surprised.

Tony, Mr. Malfoy, and "Dobby" looked over at Harry, who was looking down at the creature.

"So this is your master." Harry said, realizing something. "The family you serve is the Malfoys."

Tony raised his eyebrows, stunned. This was the House Elf that Harry was telling him, Ron, Fred, and George about in the car the night that they rescued him from the Dursleys.

"I'll deal with you later." Mr. Malfoy muttered, glaring at Dobby.

He marched into the office toward Prof. Dumbledore, who nodded at Tony to go ahead and enter. Tony quickly rushed over beside Harry, as Mr. Malfoy stood on the opposite side of the desk and pushed the two aside with his cane.

"Out of my way, you two." he growled.

The older Malfoy then addressed the headmaster.

"So, it's true." he observed. "You have returned."

"When the governors learned that Arthur Weasley's daughter was taken into the Chamber, they saw fit to summon me back." explained Prof. Dumbledore.

"Ridiculous."

"Curiously, Lucius, several of them were under the impression that you would curse their family if they did not agree to suspend me in the first place."

Harry and Tony turned to glare at the blond-haired man that stood before them. How low could you get?

"How dare you!" growled Mr. Malfoy.

"Beg your pardon?" asked Prof. Dumbledore.

Mr. Malfoy stepped forward, his face twisted in rage.

"My sole concern has always been and will always be the welfare of this school, and of course,..." he argued, outraged.

He paused to glance at Tony and Harry, who were standing with Dobby beside the desk.

"...it's students." he finished.

"You have a funny way of showing it." retorted Tony.

Mr. Malfoy shot him a nasty glare, as Prof. Dumbledore's mouth twitched into a small smirk, which faded before the man standing in front of him could notice.

"The culprit has been identified, I presume?" asked the former.

"Yes." responded Prof. Dumbledore.

"And? Who was it?"

Prof. Dumbledore glanced at Harry for a moment, who had glanced back, and looked back at Mr. Malfoy.

"Voldemort." he answered.

Mr. Malfoy didn't look surprised in the least.

"Only this time, he chose to act through somebody else, by means of this." Prof. Dumbledore explained, holding up the damaged diary of Tom Riddle.

While the grown-ups continued to talk, Tony glanced to the side and saw Dobby tugging on Harry's arm sleeve, and glancing at Mr. Malfoy meaningfully. Both boys had gotten the message. Mr. Malfoy was responsible for the whole mess.

"Fortunately, our young Mr. Potter and his friends discovered it." Prof. Dumbledore was saying. "Ginny Weasley had said that before she was taken, she and Mr. Cross, another Gryffindor, had tried to destroy it countless times, but only through the use of a basilisk's fang, was Harry able to destroy it. One hopes that no more of Lord Voldemort's old school-things should find their way into innocent hands. The consequences for the one responsible would be severe."

"Well, let us hope that Mr. Potter will always be around to save the day." said Mr. Malfoy.

"Don't worry." responded Harry. "I will be."

"And his friends will always be there to help him." Tony agreed, clapping a hand onto his shoulder.

Mr. Malfoy nodded, doing a good job of hiding his disappointment from his visage.

"Dumbledore." he said, before turning away. "Come, Dobby. We're leaving."

Harry, Tony, and Prof. Dumbledore watched as Mr. Malfoy and Dobby left, the former knocking the latter along with his cane.

"I'd kick him myself if it didn't mean me being expelled." Tony muttered, angrily.

Harry had a different idea. He turned around to set the sword of Gryffindor down on the table.

"Sir?" he asked. "I wonder if I could have that?"

Tony and Prof. Dumbledore saw that he was pointing at the diary, and to the former's surprise, his headmaster approved. Harry took the diary, then quickly removed one of his socks, and stuffed it into the book's interior, before departing from the office.

"I'm done asking questions for the year." announced Tony.

Behind him, Prof. Dumbledore chuckled, making him turn to face his headmaster. Prof. Dumbledore then stopped laughing to look at his student.

"Tell me, Anthony, if you were given the option, would you stay in Slytherin?" he asked. "Despite the reputation that your House has?"

"It wouldn't matter where I was, sir." Tony responded, smiling. "My friends would always be my friends. And I'd always be their friend. That's what matters to me."

Prof. Dumbledore nodded, smiling proudly.

"I've spoken with Prof. Snape earlier this year." he announced. "Slytherin House will be receiving extra rooms for Muggleborns and half-Muggle wizards and witches. I understand that you and some of your friends there have been dealing with excessive bullying."

"S-Sir, you don't have to-" Tony stammered, raising his hands in a defensive gesture.

"I believe it would be necessary for the future."

* * *

Harry and Tony made their way down to the Great Hall, feeling cheery with all that had happened. However, on the way there, the two of them noticed Draco Malfoy standing with his back against the wall, looking at them.

"I wonder if he saw his dad yet." muttered Harry.

Tony shrugged, not really caring. A few of his friends were about to wake back up from being Petrified, and nothing was going to bring him down today. Then, Draco walked forward, and blocked them off.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" asked Harry.

"A word with Gabriel, if you don't mind." Draco spat back.

Tony stared at him, confused. Draco Malfoy wanting to talk with him? This was new. He looked at Harry, and nodded at him to go on ahead without him, and both he and Draco watched as Harry walked off to the Great Hall. Waiting until he was out of earshot, Draco finally looked at Tony.

"I heard about what you and Potter did, standing up to the Dark L-You-Know-Who." he spoke, lowly.

"Malfoy, if you're going to call me 'Mudblood' or whatever slur you have up your sleeve, I'll warn you now, I'm not gonna be bothered by it." Tony warned him. "Two of my best buds are being unPetrified, and I'm stoked about seeing them again."

"I'm not here to insult you, Gabriel."

Tony stared at him, blankly.

"Pardon?" he asked, surprised.

"I'll deny ever saying this to anyone else, but I thought you should know that I have...a new level of respect for you." Draco said, awkwardly. "You looked You-Know-Who in the eye again, and stood up to him and his monster."

Tony stared at him, his jaw dropping open. Draco was actually...complimenting him. He was being nice to him. The Muggleborn Slytherin wondered to himself if Hell had frozen over.

"Uh, thanks, Malfoy." Tony said, uncomfortably.

"Like I said, if anyone asks, I still hate your kind." Draco warned him.

"And we hate your guts."

Draco nodded, and went on his way to the Great Hall, leaving a still-surprised Tony standing where he was. A grin slowly formed on his own face.

* * *

That evening, the entire school was abuzz in the Great Hall. The Petrified victims were restored back to normal health, and spirits had never been higher. Sir Nicholas floated down the center aisle of the room, with students welcoming him back. Tony sat at the Gryffindor table with Harry and Ron, waiting for their two missing friends to show up. Then Neville suddenly looked up towards the entrance, then looked back at Harry, excited.

"Harry! It's Hermione!" he exclaimed. "And Riley, too!"

Harry, Ron, Tony, and the other Gryffindors within earshot craned their heads toward the entrance to the Great Hall to see that Hermione and Riley were both standing in the doorway, looking straight at them. Harry, Ron, and Tony got out of their seats just as Hermione and Riley rushed towards them, and hurried over to meet them. Harry grabbed Hermione in a hug, while Riley and Tony met in a highfive that changed into a fistbump, laughing. Ron went to hug Hermione, both stopping before even touching each other, and settled for a handshake.

"Welcome back, Hermione." said Ron.

"It's good to be back." responded Hermione.

"Good grief, you two." Tony muttered, shaking his head. "Go ahead and hug, it's not like we're going to judge."

He paused, and looked at the Weasley twins, and changed his mind about what he said.

"Okay, all but those two knuckleheads." he correct himself.

Hermione ignored him, and smiled at her friends.

"Congratulations, I can't believe you solved it." she said, excited.

"Well, we've had loads of help from you." Harry told her. "We couldn't have done it without you, and Riley, too."

"Thanks."

"I didn't do much." Riley admitted, grinning sheepishly.

"Funny. I seem to recall being told that you were trying to save Ginny before we even entered the Chamber, and that you knew the diary was evil." Tony told him. "Luckily, Harry found that missing page in Hermione's hand. Otherwise we wouldn't be here today, talking to you two."

Hermione and Riley looked at each other, smiling. Then they and their friends sat down as Prof. McGonagall clanged her silverware against the glass goblet again.

"Could I have your attention, please?" she asked.

Prof. Dumbledore rose to his feet to address the students once the noise quieted down.

"Before we begin the feast, let us have a round of applause for Prof. Sprout, Madam Pomfrey, whose Mandrake juice has been so successfully administered to all who had been Petrified." he announced.

The entire room broke out into a loud group of cheers, as the two women smiled warmly in thanks. Then it died down again.

"Also, in light of recent events, as a school treat all exams have been cancelled." Prof. Dumbledore finished, looking down at his students.

Almost the entire Great Hall exploded into cheers. Every student at the Slytherin table was clapping, too. Hermione had been about the only one who was disappointed. Her mood would be lifted in just a few moments though. The doors to the Great Hall opened again, and the students quieted down to watch as Rubeus Hagrid walked into the room.

"Sorry I'm late." he apologized.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Tony looked at each other, excitedly. Hagrid was really back. He walked down the center aisle, looking cheerful.

"The owl that delivered my release papers got all lost and confused." he explained. "Some ruddy bird called Errol."

Harry, Hermione, Tony, and Riley turned in their seats to glance at Ron, who felt the gazes of several of the students fall on him, as he slowly turned to look at his friends. Nobody really forgot the bird that brought him his Howler earlier this school year, the same one that had caused quite a commotion on the first day of the school year. Hagrid stopped beside the Gryffindor table, and looked down at his five friends.

"And I'd just like to say that if it hadn't been for you, Harry, Ron, Tony, and Hermione and Riley, of course, I would, uh, I'd still be you-know-where," he spoke, gratefully. "So I'd just like to say thanks."

Harry was the first to stand up, and he looked up at Hagrid.

"There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid." he said.

Hagrid watched as his young friend walked over to hug him, and returned the gesture. Then Prof. Dumbledore stood up, and started to clap his hands. Prof. McGonagall, and several of the staff members followed suit, with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Riley, Tony, and the rest of the students joining in. Tony's friends from Slytherin House, Jesse, Scott, and his sister Jasmine, stood up, and started to clap, too. Students were either standing on top of their tables, or walked over to Hagrid to shake his hand, and congratulate the gamekeeper. Tears were rolling down the man's face, as he raised his fists in the air. The year had gotten to a shaky start, but things turned out okay in the end.

* * *

I uploaded the rest of the story because I'm gonna be busy for a while, and I didn't want to go a while without updating this. I'm gonna try and work on more of the chapters from my other fanfics.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, the Gabriels, Jesse Reigns, Scott and Jasmine Willows. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.


End file.
